To Governor Markell…
In an unprecedented 4-1 decision announced Sunday, the Delaware Board of Pardons is recommending that the death sentence for convicted killer Robert A. Gattis be commuted to life in prison.
It will now be up to Gov. Jack Markell to decide if he will accept the board’s recommendation to spare Gattis’ life or if he will allow the execution of the 49-year-old by lethal injection to go forward as planned early Friday.
A life is literally in Governor Markell’s hands. He might not want this responsibility. But he asked for it, and now he has to decide. I now address the Governor directly….
Here is what we know. Robert Gattis is a murderer. But his trial was not complete. The judge and jury never heard mitigating evidence that could have had an affect on his sentencing: that Gattis suffered physical and sexual abuse as a child. As it was, the jury in the original trial did not vote unanimously for the Death Penalty. The vote was 10-2.
A question on my mind is why Mr. Gattis’ sentence has not been already commuted down to life in prison like Tom Capano’s was. In January 2006, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed Capano’s conviction but remanded the case for sentencing because the death penalty was imposed by a non-unanimous jury verdict.
From the News Journal back in 2006:
In an opinion made public Wednesday, the Supreme Court decided that Capano’s death sentence was flawed under the Delaware Constitution based on a 2002 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The crux of the state’s ruling was that, to invoke the death penalty, the jury should have voted unanimously that Fahey’s murder was the result of premeditation and substantial planning. The jury only voted 11-1 in Capano’s penalty hearing.
Gattis’ sentencing was not unanimous. Why is he being treated differently than Tom Capano?
Governor Markell, treat them the same. Let Robert Gattis die in prison like Tom Capano did. His death may come sooner like Tom Capano’s, or it may take many more years. I know that I rest easy knowing that a killer is off the streets, that justice has been done, and that Mr. Gattis will spend the rest of his life in prison with the knowledge of why he is there.
…And I will rest easy knowing that the State of Delaware, my beloved home, did not kill him in my name in some misguided notion of revenge.
There is enough killing in this world, Governor Markell. Take this opportunity uniquely afforded to you as our Governor to spare one man’s life who would otherwise be just another killing.
Requiring that authors of News-Journal comments be identified has only marginally improved their tone and literacy – although Sarah Brady checked in with a fine observation.
I know the answer to the question, Cassandra. I want the Governor to ask it of himself.
Today of all days you ask this question, DD?
A question on my mind is why Mr. Gattis’ sentence has not been already commuted down to life in prison like Tom Capano’s was.
Really?
But I join you in asking the Governor to commute this man’s sentence to life without parole. Show the world that the system works the same for every single Delawarean. One more killing won’t make anything about this horrific situation right.
It will be a sad day if the Governor, whom I respect, allows some down the road political considerations override his humanity.
For anyone who is taking comfort in the fact that Gattis confessed, the article says he confessed only AFTER the commutation offer. This is no different than asking him to sign a confession with a gun to his head. “Confess or die” deals ought to be illegal in any civilized country.
And WTF is this – the Spanish Inquisition?
What does contrition have to do with anything? “We’ve got your ass locked up, but if we can’t have your mind too, we will kill you.”
I sent an email to the governor’s office, asking that he follow the Board of Pardon’s recommendation and commute the sentence.
It seems that Gov. Markell has a life in his hands just like Mr. Gattis did…..asking one to behave differently than the other? Above your pay grade.
I don’t follow your argument, Anon. Asking the Governor to spare a life and to behave differently from a criminal is somehow above one’s pay grade.
That makes as much sense as this argument for capital punishment:
We kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong.
yes. who are any of us to undo the judge and jury? He killed, DE has a penalty, asking the Governor to end around the jurisprudence is an illegitimate Q, IMO. If you want Gattis spared, effort to change sentencing laws
Judge and jury are not infallible, which is why there is this review process. It is still part and parcel of the law.
If Anon’s comment above is meant to be the most morally indefensible comment ever, I think he has succeeded.
I don’t understand how state sponsored premeditated murder, which is what capital punishment actually is, is ‘morally indefensible’. I agree with DE Idealist – well put sir!
Wait, I think I got careless. I am trying to say that capital punishment is not morally defensible, so I am agreeing with Jason, Anon, and DE Idealist.
just change the law. any of you willing to defend your position to the face of the relatives of the murdered?
Jason, that is high praise coming from you, seriously.
“any of you willing to defend your position to the face of the relatives of the murdered?”
Yes. What are they going to do, murder me?
I have a question – and I mean it – an honest question
Ho many of you in here have had a family member murdered or been the victim of a violent crime??
Or how many folks here deal with victims day after day, and the emotional wreckage left behind by a violent act??
not to judge and I have not read all about this case but… that said I am now and have always been a proponent of the death penalty, and in some cases would like to see it expanded – Dr, Bradley for example.
I am a very compassionate person, and very liberal in my way of thinking – we all make mistakes, but if the case warrents it and the circumstances call for it and they are guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt then the needle applies.
I make NO apologies for this stance, I have many times seen the loss and devestation that a serious crime like this leaves behind. And if there is any chance that the perp MAY every get out, that chance needs to be removed, and the only way to do that is the death penalty.
It should be taken seriously, taking someones life, in a pre-meditated way is no laughing matter – culpability needs to be absolute, nothing less. And if the crime warrents it, then it happens, with all due process followed.
We owe it to the victims, their families, and the public, to protect them. And its up to us to do so.
“Not that I loved Julius Caesar less, but that I loved Rome, more”
We do not owe it to the victims to kill in their name. We owe it to the victims to make sure justice is served. That the person who killed their loved one is put away forever.
In one of the videos above, the death penalty is accurately described as the most premediated murder there is. How does it elevate society any if we have to become cold blooded killers in order to feel that justice is served? Killing someone as punishment for their crimes is not justice, it is revenge.
And as a lawyer, I see first hand how horribly imperfect our justice system is. Even if it is the best in the world, it is still flawed and completely subject to the flaws and biases of human beings. It is a fact that innocent people have been executed by we the people. How can we live with that? How can you? It is much easier to release an innocent man from prison if a mistake is made than to raise him or her from the dead.
None of us have Christ-like powers to do that, because none of us are God. And it is time we stop acting like God, deciding who should live and who should die.
Life without parole also ensures that criminals can never “get out.” The recommendation from the Board of Paroles makes clear that If Robert Gattis is granted clemency, he will never be set free. We don’t need to execute criminals to keep our communities safe.
Granted – but also remember – if the victime are dead we will NEVER know what they wanted.
NEVER have the please of their smile, never have the fruits of their labor, never have the pleasure of their kindnessm their suppor , their caring
when a murderer kills, they also steal from ALL of us – we are all lesser, and are we poorer if they then execute the murderer – I can only answer that for me – not for you
its that consesus that keeps the law on the books
“And it is time we stop acting like God, deciding who should live and who should die.”
Only Gattis has that right?
Sorry, I can’t acquire my moral compass from a TV clip where an attorney is pleading in front of a bigoted group of judges to enter their profession, he is giving them the answer they want to hear under the guise of a deeply held belief in a fictional account…..
Your “revenge” is my simple “justice”. We disagree, no big deal.
All you guys and gals need to stop beating around the bush. It is obvious you don’t believe in the death penalty, so just say so. Stop trying to instantly try and change the laws to fit your believes.
Of course I don’t believe in the death penalty. Why do you need me to spell that out for you? You could not infer from this post and from my comments that I was opposed to the death penalty? Surely you are not that dumb.
And why should I stop trying to change laws that I disagree with? You don’t. Why should I or we? What the hell makes you so fucking special?
Anon,
We disagree. No big deal.
Ho many of you in here have had a family member murdered or been the victim of a violent crime??
I have.
And killing the person responsible does not bring back those lost or even make the loss any easier to live with.
We live with a government that can’t get parking tickets right — giving them the right to kill its own citizens in insensible in addition to morally wrong. Life without parole works just fine.
“Only Gattis has that right?”
No. That is why he is in jail.
Puck,
SO people who wantonly kill others and admit it (no DNA confusion or “infallible system” in this case) should live, albeit behind bars in your opinion, where honest hard working citizens shell out tax dollars to pay for the 3 squares, roof and utilities to keep them alive..all on the premises that doing so is a more profound and significant punishment? We have an amendment in our Constitution forbidding cruel ad unusual punishment….does life in prison meet that criterion?
Yes. But not because it is a worse punishment. It’s because I don’t want to become a killer myself. I want to follow the higher values. And I am willing to pay for that. Shame on you for trying to pin a price tag on that. Which is BS anyway, because the death penalty in general costs more than life without parole.
I don’t think life in prison constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. But I’m wondering why you would cite it as an argument in favor of the death penalty… which could also be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
And I haven’t had a family member who was a victim of a “violent” crime, but why does that even matter? Should I just sit down and be quiet?
Everyone, it seems, needs to be as blood thirsty as Gattis and Anon. I don’t see that happening. And that is my last observation on this subject.
The Constitution exists as a statement of the limits of government interference in your personal liberty. There is justice in having the ultimate sentence the government can dish out would be to permanently take away that liberty via life without parole. The government killing its citizens is serious overreach.
The Constitution, Article III, cites treason as an offense punishable by death, so the Constitution does support the concept of a crime “less” than killing merits such punishment. Again, is life without parole cruel and unusual…some say yes,,,,
Actually, the constitution supports the punishment of death for the crime of treason only.
Make the case that what Gattis did was treason and you might have an argument. But until then, you are arguing for an expansion of government power to kill its citizens.
Anon, using your (il)logic, we should execute all convicted criminals because they all end up behind bars at taxpayer expense.
yet it is not an overreach in that case.