Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged gunman in last year's mass shooting outside an Arizona supermarket in Tucson that killed six persons and wounded then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, pleaded guilty Tuesday to 19 charges in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty.
Loughner faces multiple life sentences in prison under the plea deal, and he also waived his right to pursue an insanity defense.
"My name is Jared Lee Loughner," the defendant told the court when he held up his right hand under oath. Loughner calmly told the court he understood his guilty plea. "Yes, that is correct," he said.
"I'm 23 years old," he told the court. "I attended college for five years at a community college."
Earlier Tuesday, Judge Larry Alan Burns found Loughner competent to stand trial in a federal court in Tucson.
Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, said in a statement Tuesday that he and his wife are satisfied with the agreement.
"The pain and loss caused by the events of January 8, 2011 are incalculable," Kelly said. "Avoiding a trial will allow us -- and we hope the whole Southern Arizona community -- to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives."
Loughner was facing the possibility of a death sentence if convicted.
Well I think it is a good thing that the survivors are not forced to relive that day. And personally I don't think the death penalty is necessary in this case since I am pretty sure that Loughner is mentally ill.
Of course now that we come to the close of this terrible incident we have two fresh ones to remind us that there are just too many guns readily available to individuals who have no business having access to such weapons of destruction.
But then again, who really does deserve to have such access? Who really needs to have a weapon whose sole purpose is to end a human life at the tips of their fingers?
In my opinion very, very few people.
I say put him up before a firing squad and shoot the bastard.
ReplyDeleteComplex issue. Mental disease is a quagmire. But, after what this "person" has done, I have a hard time accepting that AZ taxpayers should have to feed and shelter him for the next 50 or so years. Make him earn his keep, somehow.
ReplyDeleteI hope to never have to see his face or hear his name again. Hopefully, the press will also help to make that happen. There are so many victims who survived this horrendous crime, shot or just having to go through the terror or witnessing the crime, and family members of those who died, who will have live with this memory that I'm sure they too would also appreciate never hearing his name again. Then as much as I would like not to say it, there is also one who thought she was so unfairly treated that she thought she should say something immediately without thinking of those who were still trying to believe what had just happened. Two lessons this taught me, first just how tragic this event was and how quickly it could can happen to anyone, even to a young girl, and the second lesson is just what a cold, heartless, and selfish person someone can be without any regards or thoughts to the victims and what the survivors and their family's were going through.
ReplyDeleteIs it mostly politics with you and would you feel a little differently if it was one of the Repubs who got shot. I betcha would!
DeleteGabby's opponent did this:
DeleteDuring his campaign effort to unseat Giffords in November, Republican challenger Jesse Kelly held fundraisers where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully loaded M-16 rifle. Kelly is a former Marine who served in Iraq and was pictured on his website in military gear holding his automatic weapon and promoting the event.
From this source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/08/arizona-shooting-victims-_n_806258.html
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This man's actions were just as "random" as Jarred's actions, yet if the victim was a Republican, would it be mostly politics with you? Anon 4:26? Admit it, if the victims were Republicans you'd feel a little differently. betcha would!
What in the hell is wrong with you!!!! Are you sick in the head? I lived thru Reagan getting shot. John Hinkley was from my hometown. No one had any sympathy for him and we were all praying Reagan was OK. Normal people don't take sides when someone is shot! Get your head out of your ass! Did you cheer when Kennedy was shot? Our country was in mourning. Nobody should be gunned down in a theater, a Temple, a political rally, or anywhere on this earth by a deranged person. And people like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh that egged these crazies on should be locked up too. Maybe you should check in to your local mental health facility for even thinking like this. I'm serious.
DeleteAnonymous 4:25 PM
DeleteIs it mostly politics with you and would you feel a little differently if it was one of the Repubs who got shot. I betcha would!
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At least one of the victims was a Republican; the judge who was killed. I feel as bad about him as I do about all the other victims and I am sure the original poster does also.
Your comment was the politically motivated one, not Anonymous 3:33 PM's comment.
After all, decent people of all political perspectives found Palin's blood libel victim whine to be deeply repugnant.
Betcha!
Anon 4:25, Politics had no place in this disaster, and only someone who is as narcissistic and psychotic as Palin would ever put themselves in the forefront without even thinking about what the victims and the families were going through, would do such an act as she did. She proved to everyone what a true idiot she truly is and because of her pathetically poor decision she virtually ended ever holding a State or National office again. Not to say she had much of a chance even before this, but she certainly ended any chance she did before. Even Ale's, and probably others told her not to do it, but obviously she is so psychotic she is incapable of using basic logic and reasoning to suppress her vitriol. Not only does that not only say how mentally ill she is, it also speaks to the maturity of her thinking. We are certainly witnessing the end of her 15 minutes which should permanently end by the end of the year. To that and the ignorance and intolerance she has managed to bring out on those who hold such views, our country can go no other direction than up. If she and the ones who support her hold themselves up as good Christians that hold high Christian values, then I want nothing to do with their Christianity as they define it. But they seem more along the lines of the Jim Jones Christian type cult members who can easily be persuaded because of their ignorance and low mentality level. The Republican party must be truly embarrassed for introducing such a person to the public.
DeletePeople who support the death penalty are sick in the fucking head themselves. Worse than the rabid right and the kristyuns. Get a fucking life.
ReplyDeleteI too think he never needs to be seen or heard from again. His name will be remembered but most of the people he killed will not be except by their loved ones.
ReplyDeleteChristine Taylor Green
Dorwan Stoddard
Gabe Zimmerman
Dorothy Morris
John Roll
Phyllis Schneck
As bad as guns are, unstable people can find ways to hurt others if they really want to.
ReplyDeleteI also blame the intense hatred, bigotry and divisive language that riles up these people to the brink of sanity. If you hear day in and day out that "others" are out to get you and your kind, you're going to start to believe it.
The right wing hate groups and the media that feeds them may not have pulled the trigger, but they have some responsibility for the constant barrage of rhetoric.
He IS schizophrenic! What the F is wrong with all of you!!!? This is an organic brain disorder!! He can't help it! His parents couldn't help it. What's wrong is that we live in a society where the severe mentally I'll cant get treatment because of cuts in care and health insurance companies.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how ignorant some of the comments are. I'm not excusing what he did but you might want to look at the source of the problem. All of these shooters have had severe untreated mental illness. In Arizona, Jan Brewer has cut mental health treatment to almost nothing for people who have Medicaid.
Thanks Gryphen for pointing out he is mentally ill. He has a firm diagnosis of schizophrenia. To the person who wants him shot, I wish upon you a child with a brain disorder do you can see there is hardly any treatment or help available unless you are very wealthy!! And what happens when all these red states refuse to expand Medicaid.
Our country is in serious trouble for so many reasons.
I agree that some seem harsh in their wanting Loughner dead. But I believe that is a visceral reaction that some people have--then think better of it. I personally do not believe in the death penalty and the man is extremely unwell. There is a man who is going to be put to death soon with a 60 IQ. What does that say about us as a nation?
DeleteLoughner was left untreated because many in this country do indeed slip through the cracks-- lacking healthcare. The shootings were a terrible tragedy that will be repeated again and again in this country.
Of course I hope Loughner is locked up forever because he will never be safe in society if he is not continually on medication. And I think it must be said that most schizophrenics would never hurt anyone. Jared Loughner and those like him have reached horrific perfect storms. And even the Aurora shooter's psychiatrist had warned police weeks before the shooting. There is only so much anyone could do about it.
BUT, I do blame the gun laws in this country more than ANYTHING. Maybe when a bullet costs $100 and we force our legislatures to stop being whores to the NRA things will change. I won't be holding my breath though.
So, because he has schizophrenia he should what... be let free? See a shrink once a week?
DeleteHe may have an illness but he still has to pay the piper for his doing.
Justice? Or revenge. Either way, it works for me.
I completely agree with every word you've written here.
DeleteAnonymous 4:37 and Angela, Thank you both for your comments. I'm grateful Gryphen brought up the fact that this man is mentally ill. As a society, we need to get educated on what Schitzophrenia and other conditions are, how they manifest themselves, and how our health care system often fails these people and their families.
DeleteSome conditions can be managed by medication, but once a person is of legal age, it becomes THEIR responsibility to take their medication, and there's nothing the families can do to force them to.
Add the costs, which most insurance companies don't cover at all or offer inadequate coverage. And these are among the most expensive medicines made.
And how this man came to possess these weapons needs to be addressed.
I agree w you about the mentally ill part--not sure why not guilty by reason of insanity if they had to force feed him the meds for a year....clearly not in his right mind. And I weep for the victims, but this doesn't seem just.
DeleteIn my small town, about 16 years ago, a young man spiraled down into severe paranoid schizophrenia. One of the most awful things about the disease was that due to the paranoia, he was convinced that the doctors and his family were plotting against him when they tried to convince him to take his medications. When he did take his medications, they had unpleasant side effects. So he would stop taking them, convinced that he was fine and didn't need them. As he slid back into psychosis, he became even more convinced that the side effects were proof that his doctors and family meant to do him harm.
DeleteHis family tried desperately to get him help, but unless it is clear that a patient is an immediate danger to themselves or to others, they cannot be compelled to undergo treatment any more than anyone else can be forced to undergo unwanted medical treatment. Tragically, the proof often comes after the fact.
In this case it ended when he robbed a bank, blew off a manager's arm, took a teller hostage, strapped dynamite to her chest, and fled, leading to a standoff in a car until many hours later when a state police sniper was able to get a clear shot, and killed him.
This is an agonizing disease with no easy answers. But certainly, as others have said, mental health resources have been gutted. If Loughner had been killed during the shooting, it would have been self-defense or necessary police action to save live. But after the fact, if all we can do with schizophrenics like him is to kill them out of anger for what they have done, I don't think that says much for our society.
I would rather have my tax dollars keep him in a safe environment where he can be treated, and where he cannot harm others.
Yes, glad the victims don't have to go through an agonizing trial. The Batman killer has lose screws, too. This one is another matter.
ReplyDeleteStepmother In Denver Says Wade Michael Page Had Normal Childhood
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/08/07/stepmother-in-denver-says-wade-michael-page-had-normal-childhood/
DENVER (CBS4) – The stepmother of Wade Michael Page, who is suspected in the Wisconsin Sikh temple killings, lives in Denver. She told CBS4 she thinks his military service may have played a role in the rampage.
3:32: make him earn his keep??? Why don't we just take all the mentally ill, the disabled and the poor elderly and put them in gas chambers? Why should society have to pay for these terrible people. That is basically what you are saying.
ReplyDeleteIn the Bible women having a menstrual cycle can't be touched. They were too dirty and yukky to sleep with the clean men. They never learned, just kept being dirty every month. Aren't you glad that know one decided to kill them?
DeleteEven the most rabid "2nd Amendment" freak, will, if he loses a loved one to a maniac like Loughner, suddenly be one of those we see on TV, walking around in tears, holding up a sign reading: BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS!
ReplyDeletePersonal experience can make a believer out of the most brainwashed fool.
I agree with you, Gryphen, about gun ownership. And how anyone can justify automatic and semi-automatic weapons for the, what, casual gun owner I will never understand. I don't think they would be great for target shooting and I don't think they'd be great for hunting. Their only purpose, I would think, is killing people - quickly and relatively randomly. Of course, I've never so much as held a gun and I certainly hope that I never have to.
ReplyDelete"I attended college for five years at a community college."
ReplyDeleteI had a double take there, I thought it said he attended five colleges in five years. Shiver. . .
I don't believe in the death penalty anyway. However, I also think that Loughner was and is seriously mentally ill. Do you remember those crazy Youtube videos and some of the stuff he posted on online forums?
ReplyDeleteI read in another report that he's being medicated and the prison psychologist said, "He has become human" and that he expressed remorse for what he did.
I think this is really the best outcome. He plead, there won't be the pain and expense of a trial, and he'll NEVER get out. I hope that the majority of the victims are pleased as well.
This makes little or no sense. If the prosecutor would have agreed on no death penalty, then there could have been a trial as well as discovery. Loughner might have gotten a lesser sentence or declared insane. Seems like there was little incentive for him to plea.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree, no trial may save money and grief on the part of the deceased's families and the survivors, who really benefits here?
Is the prosecutor a Republican? I don't know, but if the answer is yes, could they be shielding the Repuiblican Party and/or Palin by not disclosing information which may have motivated Loughner?
That is the only way this make sense.