What We Do Is Secret ()
Dear Death Penalty Opponents (pt. 2),
posted by Brian Hickey
Hey, it's me again. Just wanted to make sure that in light of your noble work in New Jersey, it's time to rally over on the commonwealth side of thee old Delaware Creek. Why, you ask? Because, I answer:
HARRISBURG Governor Edward G. Rendell signed his 75th death warrant today, this one for a Luzerne County man who was sentenced to die 15 years ago for the sexual assault and strangulation of 3-year-old Joelle Donovan in Wilkes-Barre.
Michael Bardo, 38, is an inmate today at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. Hes scheduled to die by lethal injection on Feb. 28.
According to court documents, Bardo murdered Donovan in August 1992 after a night out with a friend.
Bardo was convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of indecent aggravated assault on Jan. 27, 1993.
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas formally sentenced Bardo to death on Dec. 15, 1994, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed that judgment on Feb. 27, 1998. Nearly four months later, a warrant was issued scheduling Bardos execution for July 16, 1998. On July 1, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court stayed the execution pending resolution of Bardos petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court. On Oct. 13, 1998, certiorari was denied, thus lifting the stay. A second warrant was issued on Nov. 12, 1998, scheduling the execution for Jan. 6, 1999.
Bardos petition for relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act was denied by the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in December 1998. Bardo then filed an appeal in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from the order denying his petition for relief on the grounds he was seeking only appointment of new counsel and request for stay of execution. Later that month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court remanded the case to the lower court for a hearing to reconsider Bardos request for new counsel and stayed the execution for the purpose of that hearing. However, that hearing was not held until this past November.
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I'd like to thank you in advance for your tireless work in keeping honorable fellas like Michael Bardo alive and kickin' those appeals into the system - on my dime.
XOXO,
Hickey
P.S. In case you're counting, he's now been in prison five times longer than his victim was permitted to live.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Once again, a death penalty supporter tries to play the “horrible crime” card.
Is Bardo a monster? Yes. Does that mean we get to kill him? No.
What death penalty proponents always seem to ignore is that some families, who have actually lost loved ones, have the courage and moral fiber to forgive and NOT ask for the death penalty. Indeed, there was at least one survivor on the New Jersey death penalty commission Mr. Hickey implicitly vilifies.
What death penalty supporters demonstrate is not their own concern for justice; it is their own lack of character.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Sorry, “Expatriate,” I don’t play “cards.” I merely point out that people who want a wholesale moratorium and/or ban are doing nothing but protecting the worthless lives of the evil, on my dime.
And, having met countless people who’ve lost loved ones to senseless violence, I think I have a pretty good idea about their take on justice. And the vast majority I’ve interviewed feel that the perpetrators should pay with their lives for their crimes. It should be their call. Not mine, not yours, and definitely not someone on a Kumbaya drum circle singing about their cause of the moment.
If standing up for what I believe in demonstrates a “lack of character,” what does making baseless claims under an assumed screen name demonstrate? I mean, other than cowardice.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I stand by what I believe, whether you like it or not. I do not owe you explanation, identification, etc.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
You know, such a compelling response makes me want to rethink my stance. I’m no longer in favor of the death penalty. Thank you for helping me see the light through your eloquence.
Brian P. Hickey
123 Chestnut St.
215 735 8444 x211
January 4th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Mr. Hickey,
I have no more expectation of changing your mind than I imagine you have of changing mine. If you want to post your contact info online so any weirdo can contact you, fine and well. You have the patience for dealing with that, I don’t.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
It’s not about changing minds on the issue. It’s about you having the gumption to explain how believing in the death penalty exhibits a “lack of character.”
And don’t worry about me: The wackos find me anyhow. One need only look at how this thread started for an example.
January 4th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Itâs a damn good thing no innocent people have ever been executed on your dime (Despite the lack of evidence, I applaud the executions of both Sacco and Vanzetti because future generations would need the vowels in their names in order to play âWheel of Fortuneâ), Brian; otherwise your argument might come off sounding somewhat like âThere was like this guy who did like this, really, really bad thing, but now heâs like dead, so we can all sleep safely, âcuz theyâll be like no more murders and stuff.â
January 5th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I hear what you’re saying Rodney, which is why I concede that capital punishment needs to be examined (but would never concede that it should be banned altogether).
What of those who’ve confessed, or were caught - and excuse the horrible imagery - redhanded?
Am I to think you believe that we shouldn’t have the death penalty at all, and keep the Heidniks of the world alive, even if they’re proven guilty beyond any sort of doubt?
Or would you agree that we should keep it as an option for certain heinous cases, where there’s zero doubt as to who was responsible?
January 6th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Iâm pretty sure that the folks who arranged Ethel Rosenbergâs ride in the electric Lazy-Boy (I always thought that was kind of a negative brand name to give a product â sort of like a âCouch Potatoâ brand sofa or a âWelfare Queenâ refrigerator) were 100% percent certain that she was guilty of treason. By the way, while Iâm convinced that Ethel was innocent, I think Julius Rosenberg was probably guilty. I als