• YungOnions@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    Because it’s about sending a message. They’ve seen how popular this guy and his actions have become and are trying to throw everything at him so it puts off any copycats.

        • itslilith
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          30 days ago

          Plans take time. Better wait a few weeks until the CEOs start to relax again

    • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Except all they have done is make him a martyr, and now anyone who wants to be infamous is more likely to do something.

    • Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      The death penalty has not been executed in NY/federal court for decades right? Doesn’t seem like an actual threat. What they want to achieve is a good negotiating position for a plea bargain because they known a trial will be a shitshow.

  • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The state of New York is about to get a firsthand lesson in the Streisand Effect. They should have just charged him the same charge any normal killer would get - Second Degree Murder, which is the normal charge for premeditated murder in NY. First degree requires rare special circumstances, and the prosecutor chose to use a dubious “terrorism” modifier to up the charge to Murder 1. They just couldn’t help themselves, and they shot themselves in the foot.

    The advantage to the prosecution to a simple Murder 2 charge is that motive really doesn’t matter much. They just have to prove that Luigi pulled the trigger. But with the terrorism modifier, the trial will no devolve into lengthy discussions about his motives and message. Not only have they now given him the world’s largest soapbox, but this will also give the defense an opportunity to make him much more sympathetic to the jury. With only a Murder 2 charge, the defense lawyer would have had to fight hard to sneak subtle hints into trial about Luigi’s motives. Now his motives will be a core part of the prosecution’s case.

    With a simple Murder 2 trial, even jurors who thought Thompson got what he deserved could vote to convict based simply on the letter of the law. Luigi killed an evil man, but he still has to face the consequences like any other criminal. Now the jury will clearly see that the system isn’t treating him like any other criminal. The prosecutors, through their own actions, are making Luigi’s case for him - the justice system is completely rigged in favor of the rich and powerful, and the only way they can ever be held accountable is through violence.

    All it takes is one juror of twelve to look around at the situation and say, “this is bullshit. I’m not going to convict.” Sure, they can try him again with a new jury if he’s not found unanimously not-guilty, but that jury will have an even greater risk of jury nullification. The longer this goes on, the more likely the prosecutor just has to offer him some sweetheart plea deal just to get him convicted of something. And each trial just elevates Mangione that much closer to literal Sainthood in the popular imagination.

  • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 month ago

    My personal tinfoil hat is that they are seeking the death penalty so he accepts a deal. They are scared of jury nullification.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      That isn’t tinfoil-hat at all. I was reading a news story recently about how worried they are that they’ll have trouble finding impartial jurors, since there’s so much sympathy for him.

      • SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world
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        30 days ago

        How exactly does this work? How do they determine someone to be impartial? If they weed out people for having sympathy but keep people who don’t, aren’t they making that jury partial to finding him guilty?

        • itslilith
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          30 days ago

          That’s the quiet part out loud. They want a jury that will convict him.

        • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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          30 days ago

          The jury is supposed to be unbiased, i.e. not favoring one side or the other. Obviously, it’s impossible to get a jury that’s completely impartial, especially in a case that’s as high-profile as this one, but they have to try.

          They ask the jurors questions and then each side has the opportunity to remove ones that they deem problematic.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      30 days ago

      That’s normal though. I mean it shouldn’t be, but they always go as hard as they can hoping you’ll plead guilty to avoid a trial. When they say the death penalty is meant to dissuade criminals, they know it doesn’t work on crimes. It works on getting guilty pleas.

    • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      They haven’t said they are seeking the death penalty. They have charged him with a crime where they could seek it.

      But I agree they’re pushing for a deal.

  • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The comparison is definitely stupid because this guy planned the whole thing! Its not like he accidentally started a rebellion in an accidentally treasonous way while trying to steal the office of a high government official. Everyone knows the punishment for that is …another 4 years of government.

    • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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      30 days ago

      I might be confused by your comment and not understanding it properly so excuse me if I’m just not understanding right.

      Are you saying that all the school shooters in America did not actively plan to kill all of those children and/or teenagers?
      School shooters took a gun to a school and started open firing on children who were no threat and never even had a chance to grow up and hurt anyone.

      This guy planned it out, killing one adult who was responsible for the deaths of a lot of fellow Americans while he got richer and richer from their suffering and deaths.

      • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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        30 days ago

        I believe the term you are looking for is a type of ruzzian chasm. A casm from the czar himself. Some would come to call it czarcasm but it wouldn’t be until 1927 when a group of Mexican explorers traveling past the Rio grand to visit their cousins in California… Nevermind the story, I was being sarcastic.

      • thepreciousboar@lemm.ee
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        28 days ago

        He was ironicly making a comparison with Trump, convicted of serious crimes but still being elected president

  • gibmiser@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I do believe it would be a tactical error on their part to give him the death penalty… make a real martyr

    • hungryphrog
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      1 month ago

      Yeah, killing him seems like the best way to get riots all over the country…

      • Auli@lemmy.ca
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        30 days ago

        Hahaha yah right. If they kill him there we’ll be massive bitching online and that’s about it.

        • strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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          30 days ago

          I had the same thought. Us North Americans are not used to sacrificing ourselves for the betterment of the future generations.

  • Random_Character_A@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    An interesting factoid. In Finnish language “väkivalta” means violence. It is a combination word:

    väki = people, crowd, folk

    valta = power, reign

    • dogsoahC@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      So… in Finland “democracy” and “violence” are the same thing? xD

    • IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz
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      1 month ago

      Väki also means (or at least used to) ‘power’ or ‘strong’ (väkivahva, väkijuoma…) and that’s also where the etymology for ‘väkivalta’ comes from. So it’s got nothing to do with people.

      • barsoap@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Valta also sounds like a Germanic loan just a second… yep. Same root as German “Gewalt”, violence, “walten”, to rule, preside, “verwalten”, to administer, also English wield.

        What’s it with Finnish. One third borrowed from Estonian, another third from the Swedes, the rest from the Sami.

  • sndmn@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Good luck finding a jury to convict him of jaywalking.

    Some homicides are self defence.

      • PiousAgnostic@lemmy.world
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        30 days ago

        Vigilante justice only feels nice when you agree with the Vigilante. The curse of internet bubbles is that people feel like everyone agrees. Bubbles build extreme values and a lack of understanding of other peoples values.

        You become right. Others become bootlickers.

        • LenielJerron@lemmy.world
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          29 days ago

          Sometimes the consequence for doing a good thing is that people like that you did a good thing, legality be damned.

    • UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world
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      30 days ago

      For that very reason… He will never see a jury. This will be decided by ONE judge…

      Who has already written his poinion

    • Maiq@lemy.lol
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      1 month ago

      We have the Russian “and then it got worse” do nothing attitude. We aren’t even gonna try to do anything till its far too late.

    • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      We would, but most of us are too unhealthy from lack of access to affordable healthcare and can lose our jobs if we try to take time off work.

      Tinfoil hat time. Our government fucking hates our asses. Lower class? Get shot, die from preventable diseases, whatever, just do it quietly so it doesn’t bother the wealthy while they grease each other’s palms.

    • Shizrak@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      When we have protests large enough to get noticed, we get attacked by the police. Why should the protesters have to suffer? Make the oppressors suffer instead.

  • UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world
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    30 days ago

    “because their lives don’t matter as much as CEOs”

    This is the defining moment. This is our future

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Shouldn’t there be leniency for killing a killer?
    Yes I know it’s about “sending a message”, but messages go both ways.

      • blandfordforever@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        When the killing is in self defense or in the defense of many, many victims, is this called justifiable homicide?

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      Yeah, because the US “justice” system famously never treats juvenile defendants as adults in order to mete out draconian punishment that eliminates all chances for rehabilitation…

      • Logi@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        The US Supreme Court prevented people who committed crimes as juveniles from being executed a number of years ago. Trump’s group might change that, but for now it is the law. They technically cannot be incarcerated forever either.

      • Amon@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        And they have definitely ratified the UNCRC because they definitely do not want to put kids in adult prisons, right?

    • atrielienz@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-ceo-killing-luigi-mangione-terrorism-law-7fcb28dcc0106c980b6ecf4aa9cf682f

      That doesn’t mean they can’t be tried as terrorists. The main problem here is actually whether or not the facts of the crime actually allow for a terrorism charge. Fact is, he had a manifesto (see ideological goals), and the shooting was a violent criminal act.

      According to the FBI that’s all it takes. It may also be what is lacking in the case of some school shooters.

      While I am generally on the side of “CEO FAFO”, I recognize that the problem here is that the FBI and the laws they follow are flawed (probably deliberately) in such a way that they only target those who target the wealthy.

      Shooting up a school is an act of terrorism if you do it because you’re targeting a soft target in an attempt to hurt the local, state or federal government or you’re religiously motivated etc. But not if you were bullied.

      There’s been plenty of over 18 mass shooters who also haven’t been charged with terrorism. And with each one there’s people who will say they don’t want the US to become more of a police state because they believe that counterterrorism techniques (which we use internationally) shouldn’t be used against the general population.

      The federal government has a habit of overstepping the rights and freedoms of the general public any time they feel like they are under attack. We saw this with 9/11 and the Patriot act. So I can see their reasoning even if I don’t agree that mass shooters should be considered terrorists under the law.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    And now that Republicans are set to have the Presidency, Congress and SCOTUS all at the same time, there doesn’t seem to be any barriers left.

    Abolish capital punishment!