Should New York Enforce The Death Penalty?

I’ve decided to write my blog about a late breaking story that is occuring locally.  I found an article that descibes the events in Margaretville, NY.  The events in the article describe how a 23 year old man, Travis Trim, shot and killed a New York State Trooper and woonded two others. Trim was able to steal a minivan and drive to a farmhouse in Margaretville, where he was exected to be inside. Just recently, as I was watching the local news they had reported that a fire had erupted in the house Trim was thought to be in.

Out of this controversy many people are questioning whether or not New York State should have a death penalty  law.  Currently there is not one, however many believe that if a person kills another trooper or law enforcement person then they should be charged with the death penalty.  When speaking of the death penatly the article stated, “Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said his chamber would approve legislation next week to bring it back for the killing of police officers and prison guards and in cases of deaths caused by terrorists.

Obviously there is still alot about this story that needs to be uncovered, but who should choose whether or not a person should get the death penalty? It’s definitely a terrible crime that has been commited and the trooper who was killed in the line of duty leaves behind a wife and a 7 month old infant, so should personal effects be thought of when penalizing a criminal? 

Only time will tell what the outcome of this story will be…

the wrong reaction

I chose this article “It’s like when 9/11 happened” for my letter to the editor, but I think I should write about it again because it’s an article that everyone should read. I saw it on Salon and it’s really just an interesting topic about the Virginia Tech Massacre. It’s a really sad thought, but probably true.

The article discusses how VA Tech Korean students are feeling now, since the gunman at their school was also a Korean.  Many Korean students fear their lives because Cho Seung-hui, the alleged gunman, was a permanent
U.S. resident who was born in
South Korea.  Two Korean students wanted to attend the Convocation on the Virginia Tech campus, however, friends warned them not to because “it could be a bad situation.”  The article relates back to the events of September 11 when much of our country was afraid and held the Arab culture responsible for the events of only a select group.

This sadly enough brings a negative aspect to our country. Think about it, a time when we should all pull together and support one another for the terrible event that occured, we are making other people of the same nationality as the gunman feel fear when they did nothing at all.  What kind of impression are our citizens making if we are stereotyping others and making them worried the way they are.  I would hope that those who are angered at the entire Korean culture realize that it’s an individual who made the decision to hurt all of these people, not an entire race.

I had hoped that our country could learn to join together through a situation like this, not make things worse.

Racism Still Exists..

This has been quite a controversial week for radio and tv personality Don Imus.  I’m sure everyone has already heard about this but he made some very inappropriate remarks about the Rutgers Womens basketball team.  I found this article on Salon that talks about head coach of the Rutger’s team and her response about the mean comments. 

In her response head coach C. Vivian Stringer said, “There is a bigger issue here, It’s more than the Rutgers women’s basketball team. It is all women athletes. It is all women. Have we lost a sense of our own moral fiber? Has society decayed to such a point that we can forgive and forget because you know what, it was just a slip of the tongue? I’m going to suggest that bright, thinking people give thought before they speak.”  I think that this is a really eye opening thing because it’s true now a day that some people really don’t think before they say something out loud. I completely disagree with what Don Imus said and I think it’s really sad that there is still this much racism in the world and that a popular man would say such hurtful things.

Don Imus has apologized several times for the things that he has said.  I think that they are supposed to meet together so that he can apologize in person. I’ve heard lately that he has been taken off of the air by MSNBC and suspended from the radio for two weeks.  I think that maybe he was caught up in the heat of the moment when he made these derogatory comments, however I don’t know if an apology is enough. What do you think?

Voting Rights for Felons

When searching in Salon, I found a really interesting article about Florida giving voting rights back to committed felons.  A new law has been restored in Florida that will give convicted felons the rights to vote, hold elected office and serve on a jury; however, the law still says that certain types of violent offenders will still have to apply, but will no longer face a waiting period.

 It’s estimated that Florida has 628,000 felons.  This is such an interesting topic because of the controversy that Florida held with the 2000 presidential election. The article stated, “Of course, the issue of civil rights for felons was particularly heated in Florida, where just before the 2000 election voter rolls were purged of thousands of supposed felons who were, in fact, not felons at all.”  The article then went on to say, “if felons in Florida had been allowed to vote in 2000, former Vice President Al Gore would have received some 60,000 additional votes, thereby swinging the state, and the election, to Gore.” 

To me, this is really an astounding find.  The man who is now our president could very well not be serving our country right now if this law had been passed a few years ago.  I do think it is appropriate to give felons their voting rights back because I believe that each person who is a citizen should be treated like a citizen and given their rights.