"... upholding a Missouri law that bars anyone under 21 from witnessing an execution.... 'I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to be with my dad in his last moments... My dad is the most important person in my life. He has been there for me my whole life, even though he’s been incarcerated.'"
From "US federal judge denies 19-year-old’s request to attend her father’s execution" (The Guardian). The father, Kevin Johnson, murdered a police officer 17 years ago.
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57 comments:
Finding the age limit unconstitutional isn't much of a leap for todays judges.
If this situation had happened in Hawaii, the judge simply would have overturned the law.
The daughter is "heartbroken I can't be with my father in his last moments" -- a phrase spoken thousands of times over the last 2 years by families of the elderly in nursing homes and hospitals.
Seargeant William McEntee was 43 when he was responding to a call and speaking with a child about fireworks. He was ambushed and shot several times in the head by serial offender Kevin Johnson. His patrol car rolled into a tree, where Johnson shot the dead officer several more times.
Sergeant McEntee left behind his wife, daughter, two sons, mother, two sisters and a brother.
McEntee was executed in 2005. Kevin Johnson, his killer, has watched his own daughter grow up. He has benefited from multiple appeals paid by us. His horrible daughter should quietly express remote by praying for peace for the McEntee's family and forgiveness for the fresh hell her appeal just put them through.
Mike Sylwester said...
If this situation had happened in Hawaii, the judge simply would have overturned the law.
Well, when you just chuck them into a volcano, how are you gonna handle the crowd?
Why not just let the daughter have ten minutes with her father ahead of his execution,,
.. 19-year-old’s request to attend her father’s execution" (The Guardian).
The father, Kevin Johnson, murdered a police officer 17 years ago.
so, when she was 2? they Must Be VERY close. She's known his number since she could talk
She should have had her lawyer argue that she was transitioning from a teen to a 35 year-old.
Funny how we say under 21 is too young to drink, smoke or watch an execution but we're totally cool giving them lethal weapons so they can kill people overseas.
Johnson was 19 when he committed the crime for which he is sentenced to die.
But his 19 year old daughter can’t attend so she might get some closure.
Makes perfect sense.
Perhaps the Missouri governor can step in (apologize if that's in the story, which I didn't read).
Looks like we’ve discovered the way to create the perfect father.
Place him on death row.
Yeah, let's change the state constitution for this exceedingly rare case.
We need more laws that have to be reinterpreted on a regular basis.
Can't the governor just promise to pardon anyone charged for facilitating her attendance?
Seems like simple statutory construction - not the judge's job to decide what age limit should be set to watch an execution. Also not seeing a constitutional angle - there is no constitutional right that I am aware of to witness executions at all, much less at any particular age. Blame the state government if you think it is wrong, not the judge.
We are supposed to feel bad for this girl.
We are supposed to feel bad about the death penalty.
We are supposed to feel sympathy for a man who killed a police officer.
Did that police officer have a family?
A society requires suppression of the incompatible. Someone here is going to get suppressed.
If we do not suppress people who kill cops we will have more families whose fathers were killed by murderers.
This is pure zero sum.
You get one or the other.
Does this kid realize that the other witnesses to the execution are going to be very hostile towards her father?
Seems like family members ought to be a special category, with rules different from the general public. Then again, age discrimination against the young is business as usual.
I’m in favor of letting her watch. In the chamber. Her father is a maniac. Let her see him die up close, not behind glass. Maybe she won’t let her spawn do the same heinous shit.
The ACLU filed the case, but it is silent about all the censorship that goes on daily.
Too bad the electric chair is no longer used. Then she could watch him light up in
"Old Sparky."
“He has been there for me…”
A lot of kids don’t know where their father is. She always did. He’s been there. In prison.
Far too long to take out the trash...
I’d be a lot more sympathetic for the daughter’s request to witness the execution if she repeatedly said in public:
1. My father committed a heinous crime.
2. My father deserves to die for his crime.
3. I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering my father inflicted on the family and friends of the officer my father murdered in cold blood.
Did she say any of these?
Well it's always good to know that Dad is on death row--instead of going along as Baby Daddy to half a dozen other children unknown to her.
But matters could be served by allowing the young woman to have a few minutes with her father the day before the execution. For what it's worth I sat and talked with my father in hospice care about twelve hours before he passed. I got word at 3 am from the nurse that Dad was no more. I know that many of the paid obituaries in the Los Angeles Times (somebody has to pay for advertising now that businesses no longer advertise in the dead tree media) speak of someone passing at home "surrounded by friends and family". But that's a sort of cliche and I suspect is not the case.
The young lady in this case does have an advantage. She won't be present, but she knows the exact place and time of her father's death well in advance of the event. She can say whatever she has to say to him before his death. The children of her father's victim didn't get that chance.
Achilles said...We are supposed to feel bad for this girl.
Why not? What did she do?
"A lot of kids don’t know where their father is. She always did. He’s been there. In prison."
Kind of like how Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie is right there for me at the MOMA. It's almost like having it right here in my living room, brightening my life and inspiring me all day every day!
Father of the year material.
On the bright side, he’ll continue to always be there for her. Even if it’s only from an urn placed on the fireplace mantle.
When Sgt. William McEntee was murdered were his 3 children able to be with him in his last moments?
Actions have consequences and while I can feel for this young woman, my true sympathy is with the widow and fatherless children who were the victims of the crime committed by her father.
Did the family of the cop this man murdered get a chance to be with him as he died? No?
Then why should she?
Ok, I will tell you why. "For I was in Prison and ye visited me. Lord, when saw we thee in prison? I tell you, what ye do unto the least of these my brethren, ye do it unto me."
So no, this guy absolutely does not deserve his daughter there. But it is the Christian thing to do. Make sure he gets his last meal, and make sure the execution goes off well -- no problems. And make sure justice is done.
Achilles...this girl didn't kill a police officer. Her Dad did. Everyone get's one Dad. I feel bad for her. None of this is her fault. Sympathy for her, does not equate to a lack of sympathy of the police officer or his family.
She has suffered because of her father's crime, and will continue to do so. If she loves him, forgave him, and developed a relationship with him, that's a good thing.
And if she wants to attend the execution as a 19 year old legal adult, then she should be allowed to do so. The law is stupid, and this judge is and asshole.
Judgement has been passed on her father. I'm in no position to judge her feelings toward her father's impending death. Prayers for the family of the police officer, and prayers for this young woman.
Gusty Winds: you do not know how or how often she saw her father.
The officer’s children never saw their father again.
And yet this nasty piece of work extends their suffering by filing yet another appeal, which further compounded the suffering of the only innocent people here: the dead officer’s survivors.
This would've made an excellent episode of The Good Wife. Dedicated attorneys who hate the death penalty now have to work to get their client's desire granted, so her win = their Pyrrhic victory.
Michael, there is training and supervision that goes along with overseas weapons use by the youth in the military. Those who don't pass through training successfully are left here to vote at 18, unsupervised, get unsupervised abortions at any age (depending on state of residence) and then smoke, drink and watch executions when of age.
What's funny is that you conflate trained soldiers to unsupervised youth.
Kevin Johnson not only shot the policeman, he circled back and returned to the scene of the crime to shoot him again when he heard the policeman was still alive. The 19 year old daughter of the murderer on death row is now the mother of an infant son. Let’s shield that child from hearing how his mother watched Gramps die.
A Special Prosecutor has found that Johnson was condemned by a process tainted by racism. Johnson is being made a victim.
https://theintercept.com/2022/11/27/missouri-kevin-johnson-execution-racism/
"His horrible daughter should quietly express remote (sic) by praying for peace for the McEntee's family and forgiveness for the fresh hell her appeal just put them through."
Why is she horrible because she loves her father? One can hate the things a loved one does or has done to others, including even murder, yet still feel love for that person. As the Christians, say, "Hate the sin, love the sinner."
Why must the daughter feel remorse for her father's action? Only he is in a position to feel remorse, (and he may or may not, not that this would be a balm for the officer's family).
How do you know the daughter isn't praying for peace for the murdered officer's family? (Not that it isn't anything but a futile act of wishing.) She can and probably does feel sorrow and empathy for the officer's family. Why is her wish to be present at his execution a cause of anguish to the officer's family?
Gusty Winds (Elon Musk Fanboy) said...
Achilles...this girl didn't kill a police officer. Her Dad did. Everyone get's one Dad. I feel bad for her. None of this is her fault. Sympathy for her, does not equate to a lack of sympathy of the police officer or his family.
She has suffered because of her father's crime, and will continue to do so. If she loves him, forgave him, and developed a relationship with him, that's a good thing.
And if she wants to attend the execution as a 19 year old legal adult, then she should be allowed to do so. The law is stupid, and this judge is and asshole.
Judgement has been passed on her father. I'm in no position to judge her feelings toward her father's impending death. Prayers for the family of the police officer, and prayers for this young woman.
I understand all of this.
I am personally against the death penalty because the Government has screwed it up like everything else it touches.
My point is that you have a choice:
1. You either punish the man who killed the police officer in a way that will deter future killers
or
2. You have more murderers that kill police officers.
This girl, whose father killed a police officer, is a victim too. The best thing we can do is to make sure more fathers don't decide to murder a police officer like hers did.
tim maguire said...
Achilles said...We are supposed to feel bad for this girl.
Why not? What did she do?
Apparently she has filed an appeal and is dragging the process out.
This isn't like wanting to spend time together in a hospice. It's an execution. There's something macabre about wanting to see your father executed. She doesn't sound like she's looking for closure. That's what funerals are for. As someone suggested, it would be more appropriate for her to spend time alone with him just prior to his execution.
The main thing I see about the death penalty is that if you pay with your life, you get absolution. I believe that if you pay with your life, all debts are paid. That is what it is for. I don’t have any problem with the daughter being there to offer some consolation at the end.
It’s not like he is being long dropped on the rope or heated up in the chair, it’s clinical now.
Like Achilles. I am against the death penalty because I don't think the government should have this power. But I also don't believe victims should be allowed to observe the death. It's not a spectator sport, should be clinical and professional.
Like Achilles. I am against the death penalty because I don't think the government should have this power. But I also don't believe victims should be allowed to observe the death. It's not a spectator sport, should be clinical and professional.
His horrible daughter
She's literally innocent of the murder that inspires your hate. So you're hating on an innocent person. In fact your post is nicer to her father -- the convicted murderer -- than his daughter, whose only crime is loving him.
It's highly likely that we've executed innocent people on death row. We've had numerous stories of convicted rapists -- convicted on the strength of eyewitness testimony -- being freed on DNA evidence that would refute their guilt.
There are any number of incompetent attorneys who do not put forth a strong defense. And we've had any number of angry prosecutors trying to execute people for doing things like sitting in the getaway car waiting to drive away.
If you spend any time at all reading our government's work in the abortion area, your faith in our legal system's justice, kindness, and honesty will be shaken to the fucking core. I have no faith in attorneys and judges who think it's fine to kill a baby because she has a Down's syndrome. Their words mean nothing to me. Some of them may be filled with divine wrath. But many of them -- most of them -- are just typical human fuck-ups who don't really give a shit.
"Somebody else is getting killed, not me, no biggie."
Of course our practice of compartmentalization drives me up the fucking wall. You know, the red shirts who hate abortion and love the death penalty, and the blue shirts who do the exact opposite.
Liberals who are passionate defenders of convicted murderers -- like Harry Fucking Blackmun -- should be assigned clean-up duty at the local late-term abortion facility. I think it's highly likely that Blackmun's pathetic claim to respect human life (“I shall no longer tinker with the machinery of death”) was a half-ass subconscious attempt to immunize his soul from the infanticide charge that haunted his whole fucking life.
Our justice is imperfect and our homicides are a sin against God.
As the Christians, say, "Hate the sin, love the sinner."
Cookie, you gave me a warm fuzzy.
Thank you for that.
It is refreshing that the judge, in difficult circumstances, upheld the law.
Did the job he is supposed to do.
Even if it is hard, and to do the opposite--to create an exception-would make him look wise and good.
Bravo, Judge.
I'll assume her complaint was sponsored by some sick bastard wanting to abolish the death sentence.
Myself, I get a warm an fuzzy feeling knowing that the perp in this case is being DENIED a courtesy he DENIED to the person he killed.
If such people knew they were going to cause their loved ones great emotional pain by committing their heinous crime, it might stop a few of them.
Myself, I've always considered what bad stuff would befall my family were I to carry out a felony.
Isn't that one of the defining features of "civilization. to restrain us from acting on her basest instinct?
(No bullshit, please, about how YOU have never stooped so low as to imagine inflicting injury or death on someone. Even Jesus whipped the moneylenders in the Temple.)
Saint Croix said...
It's highly likely that we've executed innocent people on death row.
*************
Name them, cite your evidence, or STFU.
Name them, cite your evidence, or STFU.
presumption of innocence and click on the link
or this one.
or this one
or this one
I cannot prove innocence, by the way. That's why the burden is on you.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but Cookie has it right.
She should lobby the Legislature will change the law. They can name it after her.
However, I think it would be hard to lobby for this, given the nature of the father's crime.
"Myself, I get a warm an fuzzy feeling knowing that the perp in this case is being DENIED a courtesy he DENIED to the person he killed."
It's not the perp being denied, but the perp's daughter, who had nothing to do with her father's crimes.
"If such people knew they were going to cause their loved ones great emotional pain by committing their heinous crime, it might stop a few of them."
I don't think you have much insight into human behavior.
"It's highly likely that we've executed innocent people on death row."
Yes. I have no doubt we have.
does law allow videotape of father-execution to be provided to interested parties?
rated 21+ etc,
21st c digital age etc.
It's always been Missouri state law that you must be 21 to witness an execution. The Governor's only power is to cummute the execution, he will not. The criminal in question not only ambushed the officer shooting him several times, the criminal then double tapped the officer in the head.
Jason,
I can’t believe I’m saying this but Cookie has it right.
Yep, me too. There is a certain bloodthirstiness around here that I shy away from. The girl here isn't condoning what he did; she wants to be with him as he dies. There is no reason but gratuitous cruelty to allow her her request. Though, as I understand it, the one to do such a thing is the governor. Why he should refuse such a charitable request is a mystery.
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