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ok_cpu

(2,029 posts)
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 11:08 AM Jul 2020

Should Billy Joe Wardlow Be Executed for a Crime Committed When He Was Eighteen?

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/should-billy-joe-wardlow-be-executed-for-a-crime-committed-when-he-was-eighteen

Billy Joe Wardlow, who is forty-five and has been on death row in Texas since he was twenty, is scheduled to be executed on July 8th. When he was eighteen, he shot and killed an eighty-two-year-old man named Carl Cole, while stealing Cole’s truck from his home, in the poor hamlet of Cason, in northeast Texas.

At his trial, in 1995, Wardlow testified that he had intended to intimidate Cole, not kill him, when he brandished a .45-calibre pistol he had stolen from his mother. Cole grabbed Wardlow’s arm, and Wardlow fired the gun, shooting Cole between the eyes. A jury convicted Wardlow of capital murder and sentenced him to death. Until then, he had never committed a violent offense. To sentence him to death in Texas, the jury had to decide that he “would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society”: in other words, the jury had to predict that he would be dangerous in the future.


...

In the quarter century he has spent largely in solitary confinement, he has demonstrated that the jury was wrong to predict that he posed a future danger.

He is now a thoughtful and responsible man—a man of good and admirable character. As Brant Bingamon wrote last week in the Austin Chronicle, Wardlow has become “a caretaker” on death row, “known for counseling prisoners having emotional trouble, fixing their typewriters, and scrubbing the showers to bring them to his personal level of cleanliness.” In a letter to me about Wardlow, Tony Egbuna Ford, one of his friends on death row, emphasized, “Billy IS one of the good guys. Billy DOES NOT belong here. And it is my deepest hope and prayer, that he is able to live his life, and not be another statistic for the Texas death penalty.”



I believe the death penalty is always wrong, but who can argue in favor of killing someone 25 years after a crime committed when they were a teen? It's neither justice nor deterrence.
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Should Billy Joe Wardlow Be Executed for a Crime Committed When He Was Eighteen? (Original Post) ok_cpu Jul 2020 OP
I am also against the death penalty in any case, but here I can't imagine how anyone could... TreasonousBastard Jul 2020 #1
Using the Nordic system he would have already been rehabilitated and released. PTWB Jul 2020 #5
I agree...I want no one to be executed...but it is Texas. Demsrule86 Jul 2020 #17
No one should ever be executed. LakeArenal Jul 2020 #2
With Texas Nature Man Jul 2020 #3
I'm for the death penalty...once juries and laws are perfect. gulliver Jul 2020 #4
This case does not appear to be one where there is any doubt. PTWB Jul 2020 #6
So far, it's proven impossible to create a system that works. gulliver Jul 2020 #9
If you believe in the death penalty Chainfire Jul 2020 #7
Actually, research shows the brain is not fully developed until around the age of 25. MoonchildCA Jul 2020 #11
Should the drinking age be raised to 25 then ? MichMan Jul 2020 #14
Or voting age? JustABozoOnThisBus Jul 2020 #21
Every US state has raised the drinking age to 21: many earlier experimented with a younger age struggle4progress Jul 2020 #24
This should come up at trial/sentencing LeftInTX Jul 2020 #16
No. marble falls Jul 2020 #8
If he were an African-american male llashram Jul 2020 #10
A good question for his Mr Cole's family, perhaps? Brainfodder Jul 2020 #12
No. No one should be executed. WhiskeyGrinder Jul 2020 #13
I'm against the death penalty LeftInTX Jul 2020 #15
I'm OK with Billy spending the rest of his life in prison. Its done him a world of good. aikoaiko Jul 2020 #18
I'm against the death penalty, but note that the killer was raccoon Jul 2020 #19
I am 100% against the death penalty, so no obamanut2012 Jul 2020 #20
I agree - I have been completely against it for a long time mvd Jul 2020 #22
The death penalty and life imprisonment are equally unjust Buckeyeblue Jul 2020 #23

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
1. I am also against the death penalty in any case, but here I can't imagine how anyone could...
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 11:12 AM
Jul 2020

argue for his execution.

It makes no sense on so many levels.

gulliver

(13,142 posts)
4. I'm for the death penalty...once juries and laws are perfect.
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 11:16 AM
Jul 2020

In the meantime, I'm against it.

Solitary confinement is horrible and overused from what I can tell, also, as is prison itself.

 

PTWB

(4,131 posts)
6. This case does not appear to be one where there is any doubt.
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 11:18 AM
Jul 2020

He has never denied shooting the 82 year old man between the eyes. Some feel that even in such cases where there is no doubt, the death penalty is still immoral.

gulliver

(13,142 posts)
9. So far, it's proven impossible to create a system that works.
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 11:42 AM
Jul 2020

Separating convicted killers from society seems to me to be about the most stable solution. Outside of that there are too many forces to balance (vengeance, forgiveness, economic, moral, political, etc.).

Chainfire

(17,304 posts)
7. If you believe in the death penalty
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 11:19 AM
Jul 2020

The age 18 should not be an issue. By that age we should realize the consequences of robbing and killing. I don't believe in the death penalty so it is a rhetorical argument.

MoonchildCA

(1,301 posts)
11. Actually, research shows the brain is not fully developed until around the age of 25.
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 12:26 PM
Jul 2020

Specifically the ability to rationalize and understand long-term consequences.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,282 posts)
21. Or voting age?
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 05:12 PM
Jul 2020

Maybe they shouldn't have drafted me at 19. No, wrong, they were smart to draft me while my brain was only half-baked.

LeftInTX

(24,541 posts)
16. This should come up at trial/sentencing
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 01:09 PM
Jul 2020

I don't think the SC will grant a stay based only on his age, mainly because brain development varies from person to person. There is no statute.

If there is proof that he wasn't fully cognizant, then this can be argued.

llashram

(6,265 posts)
10. If he were an African-american male
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 12:21 PM
Jul 2020

same age when convicted there would be no post here, he would already be dead for sure.

WhiskeyGrinder

(22,145 posts)
13. No. No one should be executed.
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 12:52 PM
Jul 2020

No one should be in solitary. In fact, I'd say there's not any value in keeping him incarcerated.

LeftInTX

(24,541 posts)
15. I'm against the death penalty
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 01:05 PM
Jul 2020

However, Billy Joe Wardlow was an adult and unfortunately, I don't think the SC will reverse based solely on age.

His age could have been brought up at his sentencing hearing back in 1995.

I think age should be factor in sentencing.

The SC could possibly grant a stay on other factors.

I know what they are saying here. My son was into drugs at age 18 and a half in 2005. He didn't have run ins with the law, but there were legal issues with HIPPA, counseling, and many factors. We did use his young age to obtain services, family counseling, inpatient visitation , HIPPA access etc, although he was an adult. It is a gray area because the brain is not fully developed. However, in 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the age of consent to 18. In the 1980's, the drinking age was upped to 21 in many locations.

aikoaiko

(34,127 posts)
18. I'm OK with Billy spending the rest of his life in prison. Its done him a world of good.
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 01:14 PM
Jul 2020

I'm sure his decision to pull the trigger was impulsive during an extreme situation, but he did decide to steal a vehicle and bring a gun when not in an extreme situation.

Bill has a big price to pay. If the murdered 82 year old were my father, I'd want him to pay that price fully.

If Billy were my son, I'd beg for mercy. In this case, I'm inclined to vote for mercy and life imprisonment with no chance of parole.



raccoon

(31,088 posts)
19. I'm against the death penalty, but note that the killer was
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 01:20 PM
Jul 2020

The only one left to testify as to what happened between him and the victim. Same as with George Zimmerman.

To clarify, I think Zimmerman was guilty as Cain. I hope one day he’ll do something else and end up in jail.

mvd

(65,148 posts)
22. I agree - I have been completely against it for a long time
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 05:50 PM
Jul 2020

I began changing in my 20s from opposing it in most cases to opposing it in all cases. I am morally against it, but also against it for the cost, the inconsistency of sentences and the chance you execute the innocent.

I hope he uses the argument that he is now reformed and saw a threat when he did the killing. Of course the vast majority of young people do not murder, but this sounds like he was scared.

Buckeyeblue

(5,491 posts)
23. The death penalty and life imprisonment are equally unjust
Sat Jul 4, 2020, 06:11 PM
Jul 2020

Unless the crimes were against children. People should not be thrown away. Unless they committed crimes against children. People make mistakes. Big mistakes. We should have a way that we can safely give second chances to those who deserve them.

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