Wednesday, November 18, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

The Not-So-Easy Odds for KSM Getting the Death Penalty

Today the personal opponent of the death penalty who serves as attorney general pledged that he will seek the death penalty for KSM.

Oh, by the way:

In the feds' few past tries at the death penalty for foreign terrorists, they lost. And New York juries are seen as among the least likely to agree — unanimously, as the law requires — on execution . . . The last time a Manhattan federal jury faced such a choice was July 2001. It spared two men convicted in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 people. Seven of 12 jurors decided that, if executed, one defendant "will be seen as a martyr and his death may be exploited by others to justify future terrorist acts."

Well, good to see that effort helped ensure no further terrorist attacks in Manhattan in 2001.

UPDATE: If you felt strongly that KSM should not be executed, but didn't want to take the heat for not seeking the death penalty, wouldn't your best option be to try him in federal court in Manhattan?

11/18 03:13 PMShare