By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Two of many downsides to death sentences are that they force repeated recountings of the crime and, temporarily, turn criminals into cause celebres.
The kidnapping and murder of Kansas City teenager Ann Harrison, 19 years ago, remains a vivid story because of countless retellings at hearings and appeals on behalf of two men who killed her. Opponents of capital punishment have rallied on the killers' behalfs.
None of that will happen in the case of Edwin Hall. With his admission that he nabbed and murdered Overland Park teenager Kelsey Smith, Hall has guaranteed that he will live and die in the obscurity of prison.
"My hope is that Mr. Hall's name will be forgotten and the name of Kelsey Smith, who she was a what she did, will live on," Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline said after Hall's guilty plea.
Foregoing the opportunity to seek a death sentence was the best way to guarantee that noble result to a horrible crime.
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Grinch
"'Repeated recountings' and temporary 'cause celebres' could actually become downsides "
Yeah, to the families of those seeking finality. I think it's a pretty significant cost to their lives, having to relive over and over again the death of a loved one.
Another GrinchforPrez embarrassment
Pull the other one, fool. As anyone with the reading skills of a ninth-grader knows the law mandates a complicated appeals process for prisoners sentenced to death that costs society a fortune and drags on for years. Oh, that's just not fair, is it? Probably a bunch of liberals with liberal-arts educations got those ridiculous standards bought by soft-headed legislators.
Seriously, you've become a public embarrassment to legitimate conservatives. Get an education or STFU.
"Two of many downsides to
"Two of many downsides to death sentences are that they force repeated recountings of the crime and, temporarily, turn criminals into cause celebres."
Unbelievably dumb comments. 'Repeated recountings' and temporary 'cause celebres' could actually become downsides to death sentences in your opinion, Barb? I cannot believe you actually thought it wise to post these comments, and I am embarrassed that a KC Star staffer would think them worthy enough to print in light of the fact that Kelsey died a horrible death at the hands of a morally-deficient killer, one who showed no mercy to an innocent young girl at the beginning of her promising life. That is absolutely sickening, Barb, and you should be ashamed of posting that stupidity.
Kline was absolutely wrong - they had the evidence against Hall, and he should have been brought to trial to face the death penalty, convicted, and then eventually executed. Given the evidence, the least he would have received was life in prison, which is what he got. Now this sick bastard gets to live out a life, albeit in prison, as a constant reminder to Kelsey's family that he took an innocent life and still gets to live himself. Obscure or not, Barb, all of her family and her friends will never forget that this scum still lives, and he does not deserve to.
Obscurity? Yeah, sure, just like Charles Manson has and other murderous animals who have gone on to write books, host blogs, garner outside support, etc.
Eliminate the death penalty
There are many reasons why I went from being a proponent of the death penalty to an opponent. One reason is that there appears to be no consistent basis on which it is applied. It is impossible for me to imagine a more heinous crime than the murder of Kelsey Smith by Edwin Hall. Yet, Hall will escape execution. How can society justify imposing a death sentence on anyone else when it permits Edwin Hall to live? In order for the death sentence to be morally defensible, it has to be imposed in a consistent fashion. Yet once again our society has shown itself incapable of doing that.