Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Crime & Punishment

Introduction

Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (age 21), was sentenced to death on May 15, 2015. This inspires several reactions from me, which I'll open with the two quotes below.


Two Quotes

I recently posted these comments on-line.

QUOTE:

If DT finds Jesus* and accepts Him as his Savior, then when he dies, he'll be admitted to heaven. That's the Christian view. The Buddhist view is that he'll suffer exactly as each of his victims did over the appropriate number of reincarnations. And saying magical words like "Jesus forgive me" won't cut it. Same as what is happening to Hitler - he killed 6 million Jews, he'll be murdered 6 million times [for those crimes].

The hard part of the Buddhist view: There is no such thing as an innocent victim. DT's victims, even those most innocent in this life, paid the price for sins committed in past lives. As a result, their karmic burdens will be that much lighter in their future lives.

[finds Jesus* - yes, I know DT is a Muslim]

:UNQUOTE.


QUOTE:

So that's it, eh? Killing DT will bring back his victims? Or somehow cause missing limbs to reappear? Or give "justice" to those wronged? Face it: When most people say they want to see the cause of justice served, what they really want is revenge. The death penalty is barbaric and lessens our own nobility in its continued practice. If you really want justice, don't worry: DT will pay the karmic price for what he did. Putting him in jail for life serves [only] the [practical] purpose of keeping him from doing any more harm to society[, but in no way represents suitable punishment].

:UNQUOTE.


A Fair Trial?

First of all, it won't matter if Tsarnaev didn't get a fair trial. No judge is going to admit that and order a new trial. That's just not going to happen. Any appellate judge would be thinking, "Why order a new trial? Since the case against Tsarnaev was so strong, any new trial would also produce guilty verdicts."

Now that I got that out of the way, I'll say: This young man did not get a fair trial. DT's defense argued that the trial should be moved to Washington, DC - that holding it in Boston would be prejudicial to their client. I have to agree with the defense on this one, as this is a no-brainer. The judge had no defensible reason for insisting the trial be held in Boston. Of course, the fact that there weren't any Blacks on the jury was probably very much to his liking. He simply acted on the basis of imperial judicial prerogative.

Then there's the issue of jury selection. If someone said they opposed the death penalty, then they were automatically excluded from the jury. It would have taken only one juror opposing the death penalty for that option to fail - life imprisonment being the default option. The general population of Boston opposes the death penalty.* So to insist that only the minority who support that option could sit on this jury denies the majority. Why does the state get to make this decision? Many people oppose the death penalty for religious reasons, especially in very Catholic Boston.

Since the First Amendment bars the favoring of one religious view over another, Catholics in this case were discriminated against. In fact, if I were a Catholic about to be so disenfranchised, I would have sued for the right to be empanelled on this jury.

Citizens of the USA pride themselves on having a sense of fair play. However, outside observers would have to shake their heads in disapproval when our hypocrisy raises its ugly head as it has in this case.


The Death Penalty vs. The "Death" Penalty

The death penalty simply refers to executing a prisoner. The "death" penalty refers to the psychological death brought about by prolonged time spent behind bars in solitary confinement.

If Tsarnaev had been sentenced to life imprisonment, he most assuredly would have ended up in solitary to ensure his own safety against the wrath of the general prison population. It's about time we abolished solitary confinement, instead recognizing it for what it is - torture. While it might be unwise, in cases like Tsarnaev's, to enable direct contact with other prisoners, there's no reason why some type of indirect contact (e.g, by using a fence in the exercise area) couldn't be allowed.

Access to the internet and books should also be allowed. As for communication with the outside world (via the internet or written letters), DT should be permitted as is his due under the free speech provisions of the First Amendment. However, should he even once engage in prohibited speech on the internet, his access would be reduced to "read only."

As long as the condemned is in our care, we should make some respectable effort toward his personal development. Who knows? Maybe, in some way or another, he will find salvation, if not necessarily through Jesus. Even so, sad to say, there will always be those who will refuse to forgive and will insist on continued punishment.

As for the death penalty: it should be abolished, as it has been in the European Union. However, I don't believe execution is unconstitutional, though it is a bad idea that shines an embarrassing light on our baser nature. It also doesn't do much for our collective karma.

There are USA Christian conservatives who champion capital punishment, citing "an eye for an eye." These are the same people who also preach the sanctity of life when arguing against abortion. But their sin is even greater than such hypocrisy. For once a person is executed, he has no more chance to repent and accept Jesus (or Anything or Anybody else) as Savior. However, a life sentence would give the condemned as many chances as a natural lifespan could confer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle, just another member of

The Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and

Former Candidate for USA President (in 2008 & 2012)

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

Footnote:

opposes the death penalty.* -

QUOTE:

BOSTON — Despite this city’s immersion in a trial that is replaying the horrific details of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the vast majority of Bostonians say in a new poll that if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the admitted bomber, is found guilty, he should be sent to prison for life and not condemned to death.

:UNQUOTE [by Katharine Q. Seelye, March 23, 2015]

source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/us/most-boston-residents-prefer-life-term-over-death-penalty-in-marathon-case-poll-shows.html?_r=0

Tubes that belch fire

"They're nothing more than tubes that belch fire. How impressive could this possibly be?"

That's what my guru said, when I tried to boast of our grand technology. And why not, for instance, boast about our space program, in which my wife plays a prominent role? She's been with NASA for 20 years and is obviously proud of what she and her teams have accomplished.

As for me? I have been house husband for our three children, working only sporadically as a web designer over the last ten years. After our kids got older, I found I had more time on my hands, so I got involved with Buddhism. Meditation came naturally to me, but I wondered if I would ever actually attain any indisputable degree of enlightenment. Or was all my study and effort to prove only interesting but useless?

After my guru had taken me on a trip to a galaxy far, far away, however, my doubts gave way to exhilaration. Especially since that round trip had taken far less than an hour without using any kind of spacecraft. Equally impressive: How I was, from that galaxy, able to see inside one of our space probes which had recently landed on Mars?

* * * * * * *

My galactic trip took place the same evening I shamelessly tried to bait my teacher. He always seemed so genuinely and deeply tranquil as if nothing could bother him at all. And that bothered me! After his weekly meditation class ended and all of the other students went home, I lingered to talk to him. One of the items I brought up was our life span - which in the United States rarely exceeds 100 years.

"Teacher, 100 years sounds like a lot - especially when compared to life in other countries here on earth. But Buddhist scripture speaks of distant lands in which the average life span consists of billions of years."

"Then you also know that an average life span of less than 100 years, within any given realm, is considered to be a sign of the extremely negative karma shared by all its citizens."

"I don't get it. In those other lands where life lasts so long, why doesn't scripture boast of the wondrous technology such beings surely must have developed? I mean, look at our country. We're able to travel to other planets using vehicles unimaginable 100 years ago."

And that's when my teacher said, "They're nothing more than tubes that belch fire. How impressive could this possibly be?"

Then I thought of my wife, who had worked so long and hard to help bring these "belchers," step by step, into existence. I thought of the great minds that had solved so many difficult problems to get us to where we are today. Then I asked, "What would you consider to be impressive?"

He smiled and said, "The important question is, what would you consider to be impressive? I assure you: Anything you might consider to be impressive, I would regard as commonplace."

When he saw my confusion, he said, "Take my hand and I will show you." This I did and within a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, we had levitated a foot or so above the floor. I felt like a ship which had lost its anchor and was desperate for security. I said, "Wow," and my teacher said, "Relax and tell me, do you find this to be impressive?"

"Without a doubt." And then we started to rise toward the ceiling and I worried about bumping my head. "Stand up straight, you've nothing to fear."

Just as my head was about to hit the ceiling, we accelerated to a point high above the earth where there aren't any clouds, it's cold, and the air is too thin to breathe. But the view is spectacular. I didn't feel the cold and I didn't feel short of breath. When my teacher told me to stop breathing because my current body didn't really need air or even food for that matter, I did so without feeling the panic of an asphyxiated man.

"How's this for impressive?"

"Not too shabby," I joked.

"How about this?"

As soon as the hissing sound of his "this" had faded, I found myself - still holding his hand - standing on the moon looking "down" on earth. I didn't feel any panic because there seemed to be a transmittable tranquility that passed from his hand, soothing my entire body.

"You see, it's possible to travel quickly and distantly without the use of any kind of fire-belchers."

"What if I wanted to bring stuff with me, more than I could possibly carry? Wouldn't I need a ship for that?"

"In your current form, you wouldn't need anything. But if you want to indulge, just conjure up what you wish."

"You mean, like magic?"

"There is no such thing as magic. When people call something 'magical,' that's simply because they don't understand the forces that bring that something into being. Go ahead, try to conjure up some kind of dwelling on yonder plain."

So I focused, trying to envision a tree house complete with a tree. And there it appeared - and then disappeared just as quickly when I decided I'd seen enough and wished it gone.

"And now for yet another step on your journey." We disappeared from the moon's surface and, in the twinkling of an eye, found ourselves well within the galaxy BDF-3299. That's about 13 billion light-years from earth. Again, I felt no need to breathe, and didn't feel intense heat. I should have felt the latter, since we were both in the dead center of a blazing star!

My teacher said, "Now, look carefully at Mars, specifically inside the probe your wife's team recently landed there. And memorize all that you notice. Later, run this information, much of which is highly classified, by your wife and see how she reacts."

"But Mars is so far away, and you want me to look inside this probe?"

"Don't worry, with the kind of vision attained by highly skilled practitioners, they can see without being hindered by distance, darkness - or even an over-abundance of light - or obstructions. Go ahead, look. And memorize everything."

I this from a 13 billion light-year distance. Having completed my inventory, I soon found myself - still hand-in-hand with my guru - standing just outside our Martian probe. And just as quickly, back where we had started this journey - feet planted firmly on the floor of his studio.

* * * * * * * * *

I told my wife what I had seen inside the probe and asked her to compare my information to her records. I didn't, however, tell her how I had acquired my knowledge. I lied, saying I had read the minds of members of her team, while scrupulously avoiding her own mind. Before I ran any of this by my wife, I swore her to secrecy. Needless to say, she looked stunned, barely managing to ask how I had acquired this ability.

I told her that I wasn't really sure I myself had this ability. That perhaps my guru had temporarily shared his own ability with me - to give me a taste of what was really impressive but would soon come to be felt by me as commonplace. I shared with her one of the lessons I'd learned, "Technology isn't as important as compassion, and patiently and consistently practicing the teachings. And when a person reaches ever higher levels of development, to avoid the trap of arrogance."

My wife decided to engage in Buddhist practice, asking me if I would recommend my guru. I laughed and said, "Sure. Some gurus are better than others - and this one ranks pretty high up there." So she joined me in practicing with my teacher, though neither of us breathed a word of what we knew. Not to our teacher, or the other students, or to anybody else for that matter. We didn't even discuss it between ourselves.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle, just another member of

The Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and

Former Candidate for President of the USA (in 2008 & 2012)

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

A bat, a kitten, and my guilt

Today, I'm going to share with you how I (and an accomplice) murdered a bat about 14 years ago - poor, tiny little thing. Then there's the kitten I tried to smother 38 years ago - without an accomplice. Then I conclude by asking for your help in my quest for atonement.

I entitle these three sections as follows:

• The bat

• The kitten

• My atonement

The bat

Around 2001, I was living in a 3-bedroom flat with my roommate, a fellow Buddhist. We'd lived together for 3 years, without any kind of physical relationship. On a warm spring evening, she was working in the third bedroom, which she used as an office. Then she knocked on my door and said something was in her office. So I followed her and saw what she was pointing at - a small bat hanging upside down near the top of her window.

I kept an eye on it as she went upstairs to alert the landlords - an ancient couple who'd owned and lived in this two-flat since 1947. They had worked for the archdiocese for decades until they retired. So there we were: four religious people in one room, staring up at a bat and wondering what to do. I came up with the idea of using a colander as a kind of butterfly net to snare our unwelcome guest.

The two women left the room as the old man climbed up on a chair to shoo the bat in my direction. Sure enough, it started flying around the room, looking especially large because of my fear. It wasn't long before I trapped it, sliding a piece of cardboard over the top to prevent escape. I wasn't sure what we should do next, but the old woman said we couldn't release it outside because it would only come back. I assumed she was talking about some kind of homing instinct.

So the old man and I took the imprisoned bat down to the basement. There was a sink near the washing machine. We let the water run from its faucet so it would run through the colander, which I was holding. The idea was to drown the bat. I don't know which of the two of us came up with this idea, though I hope it wasn't me. It sounds too horrible even now, decades later, as I type this confession. I remember the poor bat screeching for its very life as the water cascaded through its cage. And yet, that wasn't enough to stop me from doing this evil deed.

For good measure, I totally immersed the bat, still imprisoned but now totally silent, under the water which had by this time more than half-filled the sink.

I held the colander in place for what seemed like an eternity. Maybe I was afraid the poor animal wouldn't be dead and would try to attack us once released. Within a few minutes, I brought the drowned bat up to the surface and laid it out on the counter top. Tears started to fill my eyes - it looked so small and helpless and beautiful, its black fur glistening from its soaking. The old man scooped it up and took it outside to the alley, when a garbage can of a coffin waited for it.

I didn't ask, but I'm sure the old man made sure the lid was secured so the bat wouldn't have been able to make its way back into his building - assuming it would have somehow come back to life.


The kitten

This sad mark on my karma began when one of my roommates brought a kitten home. There were four of us young men in our early 20's, all Buddhists, sharing this apartment. We got along reasonably well until the most recent addition to our household brought a kitten to live with us. I was highly pissed that he didn't ask any of us, in advance, if this fifth roommate would be welcome. Some people don't like cats and others are allergic to them. Some would insist that the owner swear up and down to take care of their pet - you know, like regularly cleaning out its litter box.

My irritation grew when I was home alone standing in front of a window, gazing mindlessly at the street below, when this kitten ran up behind me, took a flying leap, and dug its claws into my calf - clinging for dear life. I shook it loose, my anger at the owner spiking. Thinking about it now, I guess it's true what they say: "Animals know." The kitten probably picked up on my anti-cat (or anti-cat owner) attitude.

Not long after this incident, all four of us moved out - me being the first to go. A few weeks later, I returned to pick up a small item I'd forgotten. All of my roommates' belongings were gone - except for the kitten. It walked up to me slowly - limping and obviously starving, not having been fed for days or a week or... The owner had abandoned it in the locked apartment, not even having had the decency to set it free.

This is what I wish I would have done: After petting it and saying a few reassuring words, then going to a nearby store to buy a can of cat food and a bowl for water.

But, to my very great shame, I didn't do that. I thought to put it out of its misery by grabbing a plastic bag and putting the poor creature into it to suffocate. Kitten surprised me by putting up a heroic struggle. So I let it out of the bag and left. To this day, I can't say why I tried to kill a poor, defenseless animal. Maybe it had to do with a whole bunch of negative emotions that welled up having to do with why I had recently quit the Buddhist group of which I had been a member for two-and-a-half years. Many of my experiences with that group had been bitter - or at least bittersweet. Maybe that's why I took it out on this poor kitten.

Still, no excuse.

I later told an old friend what I did, trying to put positive spin by saying I at least let it live - hoping the owner would come back for his pet. My friend said, "Since your lease is up now, the building super will have inspected the apartment by now. As soon as he saw the cat, he'd have taken it to the basement to throw into the furnace. Supers hate cats."


My atonement

I am currently working on the form my atonement should take, and how you might be able to help. My idea is to, somehow, work out a way that financial contributions could be directed to a friend of mine in Minnesota who runs a shelter for cats. There are technical reasons why she can't use Pay Pal or any other type of on-line method, which I'll explain in a future post. I will entitle that piece "My Atonement" and link it to this post.

Hopefully, I'll post "My Atonement" within the next few weeks.

My friend lives in a small house in a rural community - alone, except for the 30 cats she's rescued over the last few years. I try to help her care for her fur babies as best I can, but as a retiree I'm on a fixed income. Still, when I was paid a one-time windfall of $12,000 by my employer of 31 years, I farmed it out to her over the last two years as expenses started to mount to care for her cats.

If I can help care for these cats, including veterinary care, I hope that will lessen my karmic retribution. With that goal in mind, I stopped eating meat over a year ago. And I pray for the bat, the kitten, and any others - including people - I've abused in any way.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle, just another member of
The Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and
Former Candidate for USA President (in 2008 & 2012)

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

Adolfo Davis' Resentencing Travesty

Introduction

Today, I will address issues involved in the case of Adolfo Davis, who was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He was sentenced when he was 14 years old, but had a recent resentencing hearing before a judge. His crime? "Participating" in a double-murder, though his original trial failed to prove he was one of the gunmen.

The resentencing judge reaffirmed the original sentence. However, I think Mr. Davis has grounds for a lawsuit(s) based on:

• the original decision to try him as an adult, even though he was only 14 years old;

• failure of the most recent judge to take into account the debilitating effects caused by the denial of his rights under the Eighth Amendment over a period of 25 years.

My analysis of one article

I'm going to quote from a May 4, 2015 article by Don Babwin of the Associated Press. I will insert my comments in indented form under each pertinent paragraph. This link will take you to Babwin's article in its entirety:

http://www.bnd.com/news/state/illinois/article20197371.html


QUOTE:

An Illinois judge on Monday resentenced a convicted killer to the same life term without the possibility of parole that he received at age 14, saying he had grown from a boy who took part in a double murder into a dangerous and violent adult.

Adolfo Davis, 38, is the first Cook County inmate sentenced as a minor to life without parole to be re-sentenced since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed mandatory life terms for juveniles in 2012.

     Such sentences were deemed by the Court to be a violation of Eighth
     Amendment rights barring cruel and unusual punishment.

...Davis was convicted in a 1990 gang-related double murder on Chicago's South Side.

"The defendant's acts showed an aggression and callous disregard for human life far beyond his tender age of 14," Petrone said during the televised hearing. "The defendant was not merely ... a lookout, he was a willing shooter."

     The "fact" that Davis was "a willing shooter" was not determined at
     Davis' original trial. In fact, there was evidence to the contrary, though
     Petrone decided to label Davis as one of the trigger men.

The judge said years of vicious attacks and threats to the lives of fellow inmates, guards and a prison warden, and Davis' continued involvement in gang activity and drug dealing added up to clear evidence that the sentence he received as a teenager "is necessary to deter others (and) is necessary to protect the public from harm."

     The judge didn't say anything about any obligation society had to
     rehabilitate Davis, who had a challenging upbringing to say the least,
     according to DCFS records. If that obligation had been honored, then
     the public would have been reasonably protected from harm. As for
     Davis' years of "vicious attacks...[and] continued involvement," these
     could have been attributed to failure of the system to make any attempt
     to rehabilitate this inmate.

     Not to mention: Who could blame Davis for lashing out after having
     been denied any hope for parole? How would you feel, Judge Petrone,
     were you in his shoes?

[Petrone] said Davis has repeatedly shown himself to be so dangerous that for more than four years, he was housed at a now-shuttered prison reserved for the what Davis called the "worst of the worst."

     That prison is the infamous Tamms, in which Davis was placed at the
     age of 21. Davis became the "worst of the worst" due to the neglect
     of the state to make any attempt at his rehabilitation. Not to mention,
     having been "raised" by older, vicious criminals since he was
     incarcerated at the age of 14 - some parenting!

...

In overturning mandatory life terms for minors, the Supreme Court pointed to brain research that shows juveniles do not always have the ability to resist peer pressure. Petrone said that Davis both planned and carried out the slayings, but that he was "not a child who was misled."

     Petone also questioned that "brain research" saying, "More research
     need(s) to be done to take this field beyond speculation." However,
     the US Supreme Court was satisfied that the current body of research
     was sufficiently convincing - in the case upon which Davis' resentencing
     was based.

...

...Illinois is one of ten states that are applying the new sentencing rules retroactively. Four other states have declined to apply the Supreme Court's ruling retroactively...

That issue could be decided later this year, when the U.S. Supreme Court hears an appeal in a case out of Louisiana.

     Wait a minute. After the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life
     sentences for juveniles is unconstitutional, how do any of the states
     get to claim exemptions? Maybe those states are (in effect) claiming
     that those juveniles were sentenced at a time before the High Court
     claimed unconstitutionality, and therefore the original sentences can't
     be challenged.

     To which I would ask: "Why not try to right a wrong?" Then there's
     this: Suppose a man committed an act that was legal when he committed
     it, should he be charged under any new standard deeming that act illegal?
     And suppose he committed an act that was illegal when he committed it
     but had never been charged because he had managed to elude the
     authorities - could he be charged after the Court changes its mind,
     deciding this act is no longer illegal?

:UNQUOTE.


On to another article, this one by Linda Paul which appears on the WBEZ website. I'm only quoting from three paragraphs of this very good article (as updated on 5-4-15), my comments appearing in indented form under each pertinent paragraph:

This link will take you to Paul's article in its entirety:

http://www.wbez.org/news/judge-resentences-adolfo-davis-life-prison-111863


QUOTE:

The legal event that probably most contributed to Davis’ life without parole sentence was a proceeding called a transfer hearing. Should Adolfo Davis be tried in juvenile court where he could get a sentence of only a few years? Would that be enough time for him to turn his life around? Or should he be tried in adult court?

     A juvenile, which is what Davis was undeniably at the time, should be
     tried as an juvenile. This is where the state fails in its responsibilities -
     to both juvenile offenders and the public. The state only recognizes two
     categories - juvenile and adult. Davis should have been tried as a juvenile,
     though sentencing provisions should have been in place that would have
     kept him in state custody for more than "a few years."

     It takes more than "a few years" to heal someone as badly damaged as
     was Davis. Unless, that is, the state simply doesn't care about making any
     realistic efforts at rehabilitation.

At the transfer hearing Adolfo Davis’ probation officer testified, saying he favored Davis going into the adult system. He described him as “a very sick child.” He testified that in his opinion a few years in juvenile prison would not be sufficient to handle the severity of his problems.

     This probation officer sounds like a real piece of work. He admits that
     Davis was "a very sick child," and yet concludes (see next paragraph)
     that the "adult system" would be appropriate for this "child."

The probation officer said he believed there would be facilities in the adult system that could offer treatment and rehabilitation to Adolfo Davis. And he saw that as important because he saw Davis as not only a threat to the public, but also a threat to himself.

     So, "the probation officer...believed there would be facilities in the
     adult system?" Why would the "adult system" have any programs for
     the "treatment and rehabilitation" of a "very sick child?" Unless this
     is just something probation officers say in order to permanently exile
     the very young to a life behind bars.

:UNQUOTE.


End Comments

There are a lot of voters who believe criminals like Adolfo Davis shouldn't be coddled. Their attitude is, "Lock 'em up and throw away the key." They also think, "It would cost too much money to create a more perfect system - money which the financially-strapped state of Illinois doesn't have." To those voters, I would say, "Fine. But next time you read about a gangbanger sneaking up behind a cop and shooting him in the head, just realize there are karmic reasons for such acts. And those reasons have an awful lot to do with your attitude toward the weakest and most vulnerable of society's members - its abused juveniles."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle, just another member of

The Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and

Former Candidate for USA President (in 2008 & 2012)

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com