This local news report of an apparent murder by an Ohio inmate already convicted in two other murders serves as a reminder that there are limits on how much you can incapacitate some persons who seem intent on being violent. The article is headlined "Two-time murderer suspected of killing another inmate, " and here are the ugly details [about Mr. Casey Pigge].
A two-time murderer is suspected of killing another inmate, a Franklin County man, aboard a prison transport bus while it traveled south on Rt. 23 from Columbus on Wednesday evening. The body of David L. Johnson, 61, was found in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction bus on Thursday evening when it stopped to deliver him to the Ross Correctional Institution said Ross County Prosecutor Matthew Schmidt.
Johnson, who was serving an eight-year sentence for sexual battery, apparently was strangled; Casey Pigge, 28, is "absolutely the suspect" in the death, Schmidt said....
Pigge is serving a 30-year to life sentence at the Lucasville prison for the 2008 murder of Rhonda Sommers, 52, the mother of his then-girlfriend. Pigge was convicted of stabbing the woman and then setting her apartment on fire. Last week, Pigge pleaded guilty to using a cement block last year to repeatedly strike to kill his cellmate, Luther Wade, 26, of Springfield, at the Lebanon Correctional Institution in Warren County....
I disagree with Doug in only one respect. I believe this case does make the availability of the death penalty a must. My reasoning is simple. A punishment should have at least some deterrent value; must fit the crime; and must be within settled parameters of the Eighth Amendment.Doug then observes:
Given that Pigge is seemingly due to get an LWOP sentence for previously having "crushed his cellmate's head with a cinder block," he would be essentially getting a "free" murder if he were not at least potentially subject to something worse than LWOP for his latest murder. Moreover, given than Pigge has now slaughtered two fellow inmates during his first decade of incarceration, the only real public safety options for him would seem to be long-term solitary confinement or the death penalty.
I am not asserting that folks like Pigge make the death penalty a must, but I am saying that it seems quite difficult to figure out what a just and effective punishment is for a murderer who seems keen and able to keep killing even while incarcerated.
Bill stated: "I disagree with Doug in only one respect. I believe this case does make the availability of the death penalty a must."
I have a second objection. Doug says, "Moreover, given than Pigge has now slaughtered two fellow inmates during his first decade of incarceration, the only real public safety options for him would seem to be long-term solitary confinement or the death penalty."
A huge factor is being ignored by Doug, likely intentionally.
There are NO "public safety options" if we take the abolitionists at their word. Almost to a man, those fighting hardest for DP abolition are fighting equally hard to have long-term solitary confinement eliminated as an option. They literally want this guy back in gen pop even if they are too clever to say it.
https://www.aclu.org/feature/we-can-stop-solitary
http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=546&Itemid=396
http://solitarywatch.com/cfasc/
https://californiainnocenceproject.org/2012/10/advocacy-groups-issue-reports-calling-for-the-end-to-solitary-confinement-for-adults-and-youths/
A website with a pretty large list, including:
http://www.stopsolitaryforkids.org/organizations-with-positions/
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Bar Association
American Correctional Association
American Medical Association
American Psychiatric Association *includes language in position statement against juveniles in adult facilities
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
National Commission on Correctional Healthcare
National Lawyers Guild
New England Journal of Medicine Perspective
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
I am not ignoring anything, Tarls, as my post was expressly meant to flag that this killer seems to demand one of two options disliked by many on the left. One of many reason I am not a DP abolitionist is because I think execution is likely often more human than extreme long term solitary. Though I was intrigued to see the HBO doc Las night which showed some long term solitary inmates having access to TV and some privileges.