Earlier today U.S. District Judge Larry Burns sentenced Jared Lee Loughner to seven life sentences plus 140 years without the possibility of parole for the January 2011 shooting that left six dead and 13 wounded. “The evidence clearly shows that he knew what he was doing, despite his mental illness,” the U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said to a packed courtroom.

Loughner spoke just once, confirming to the judge that he would make no statement before sentencing. His victims had plenty to say; cnn.com offers a summary of their remarks. [Quote of the Day from Gabrielle Giffords’ husband on gun control to follow.]

Strangely, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Kleindienst cast doubt on Loughner’s sanity. “Mr. Loughner, you have been given a gift, whether you know it or not. Almost all the victims you shot and the families of those you killed came to us and said they didn’t want us to seek the death penalty in this case.” One wonders about the ones who didn’t.

[Click here to read the judgement.]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

34 COMMENTS

  2. It makes me sick that the tax payers have to pay for this POS to live. Cases like this should have mandatory death sentences.

    • There is always the Dahlmer solution, plenty of victims out there and that makes it hard to determine who ordered the hit. He’s not the kind of guy that’s gonna be a hero in jail, he’ll get what’s coming to him.
      Guys who shoot little girls get it handed to them in jail eventually.

  3. Wow. Seriously? How retarded is our court system? First, they give this guy 7 CONSECUTIVE life sentences. Then they add on 140 years. If you read the judgment, there is actually a clause in there about what to do with him upon his release.

    Is this just supposed to be an insult? Why do you need more than 1 life sentence? I cannot believe our court system is so jacked up that they even bothered to waste the time and ink to add in all of those stipulations. WTF America? What a waste. You should’ve just given the guy death and be done with it.

    Well, I guess that’s what you wanted by voting for Obama: more waste.

    (end rant)

    • It is substantially less expensive to imprison someone for life than it is to run through the full appeals process and execute them.

      http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

      I would hope that fiscal conservatives would look at the cost/benefit analysis and conclude that it makes more sense to permanently incarcerate a convict than to execute them. Seems like the emotional appeal of executing a convict overrides those principles.

      For the avoidance of doubt, I support permanent incarceration over execution purely on economic grounds, because I’m not willing to compromise on due process or fair treatment under the law to make executions cheaper. Secondarily, I also believe that even one person wrongfully executed is too many.

      • I’m okay with life imprisonment for this piece of human excrement. But it ought to be on a chain gang or some other hard labor.

      • I agree with the sentence of imprisonment for life. So long as he’s imprisoned in the desert. And just so we can’t be accused of inhumane treatment, he should have a honey bath just prior to being buried neck deep in an ant hill.

      • He plead guilty. There needs to be no “appeals process” for those who plead guilty. It only costs a few cents to put a few bullets in him.

  4. I’d rather my tax money go for the firing squad than pay 43K / year for the rest of his incarcerated life.

    • I don’t think we need to spend tax dollars on a firing squad, volunteers would be easy to find and provide tools.

  5. Reasons Why ST would Never Be President #2

    “I hereby order the Justice Department to transfer Prisoner #XYZ , Jared Loughner, to the custody of the Army Gunnery Range at Ft. Bragg whereupon the Apache Squadron stationed therein shall immediately use him for 27mm IR zero practice.

    Signed, POTUS.”

  6. Wait a second. Wasn’t this guy tried in Arizona? Aren’t they tough on crime hard on criminals or is that just political posturing? Waste of dollars, waste of air every day this guy lives.

  7. Being sentenced to a life in prison like an animal in a zoo vs. an execution is a gift? Maybe for some people. The shooter seemed really crazy when he committed the act. BTW, I don’t think being crazy or insane should excuse a person from the death penalty. I don’t quite know whether or not to buy the court’s argument that he knew what he was doing, The USG sure seemed bent on force feeding him drugs to make him sane so he could stand trial. Something doesn’t seem quite right about this case.

  9. I have not followed this case too closely, but it seems to me that the dude is insane, plain and simple. I’m not saying that I feel sorry for him or anything, but it makes me wonder how some people get to use the insanity defense and others don’t. Seems to me that the standard is not applied in any sort of consistent manner.

    • Yeah, he’s as nutty as a pecan pie, but you know the legal definition of insanity. I think that the feds use M’Naughten, not the Product test.

  11. Really, just freaking execute him and save a lot of tax payers a lot of money. Plus a few people a bunch of headaches…

  13. Loughner suffers from schizophrenia. If you have ever known someone with this disease I think you might feel differently. They go from a normal person to insane in a matter of a few months, usually in their late teens to early 20s. They have no choice in the matter and often there is little that can be done. Drugs such as paliperidone palmitate help but there is no real cure and the patient will seem perfectly normal one day and revert to hearing voices and such the next.

    It’s a tragic incident but calling for Loughner’s slow death and such is entirely misplaced. The cry should be what to do about mentally ill people. No one in his right mind would think that Loughner should have a gun but getting someone adjudicated mentally ill in this country is no easy task. That is for a reason since there were abuses in the past. Just Google Francis Farmer if you doubt it.

    Somewhere between the two extremes there must be an answer.

    To you bloodthirsty people, well I hope you or one your children never get this disease. Of course if that happened you might think a little differently.

Comments are closed.