Comments on: Death commuted to life without parole for Balbir’s killer

By: im me

im me — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:25:25 +0000

THE MAN WAS A GOOD MAN FROM WHAT I KNEW OF HIM.HIS BROTHER WAS MY STEPFATHER.FRANK HAD 2 KIDS AND A WIFE.I STILL THINK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TIMES THAT I SPENT WITH THE MAN AND HOW I JUST CANT IMAGINE HIM DOING THIS. STILL TO THIS DAY I BREAK INTO TEARS FOR THE HIM. I DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPEND. I THINK HE DID GO INSANE BEACUSE I JUST CANT SEE HIM DOING THIS. AND TO HIS FAMILY IM SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. MAY GOD BLESS YOU

By: Rupinder

Rupinder — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:28:58 +0000

Death penalities are bad. I saw an innocent blackman gassed once, and then later it was admitted he was innocent.. But I don’t buy that the guy is mentally ill. Low IQ? That would be most Americans no? ( or Brits for that matter)

By: Emma

Emma — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 05:29:50 +0000

I had a friend (in Phoenix) who knew the dead man’s family from the gurdwara- VERY SAD! That was the time when I was 1st living away from home, and… BOY was I depressed about the state of the world!!!

By: Ennis

Ennis — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 03:50:47 +0000

I believe that life imprisonment will serve the same purpose as the death sentence for the family – that this individual be removed from society – without sustaining the cycle of killing.

Valerie – unless somebody was planning to kill others in revenge for Roque’s execution, Roque’s death would also have brought an end to the “cycle” of killing.

By: Munira

Munira — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 03:48:49 +0000

I am against the death penalty so part of me rejoices that this bozo was not fried. Part of me is pissed of because it supports the death penalty statistics regarding white murderers of non white victims (see http://www.aclu.org/capital/unequal/10389pub20030226.html). I just wonder if that death sentence would have been upheld if the victim were white and the killer brown.

On a lighter note:

“PS – the guy was an airplane mechanic for Boeing I believe – how’s that jive with the “low IQ” argument? Now THAT’S worrisome”

Gosh! That is enough to put one off flying, isn’t it!

By: Apu_is_innocent

Apu_is_innocent — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 01:03:51 +0000

I do not believe in the death penalty, but DAMN i must admit a tiny bit of disappointment on this one. This freaking jackoff deserved something more than prison for the rest of his life - hell, he might even enjoy that.

Joking aside, eye for an eye and soon everyone will be blind. Education is key to stopping hate crime.

PS - the guy was an airplane mechanic for Boeing I believe - how's that jive with the "low IQ" argument? Now THAT'S worrisome.

By: Valarie Kaur

Valarie Kaur — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:51:15 +0000

Thanks Anjali for bringing this post to my attention. The murder of Balbir Sodhi was the catalyst for the film Divided We Fall (which will premiere this September). In the film, we spend time with the Sodhi family and cover Roque's trial. While making the film, I saw upfront how Roque's actions have damaged a family and community. At the same time, I began to recognize Roque's death sentence as part of a cycle of violence: on 9/11 the terrorists took life, on 9/15 Roque took life, in response to Roque, the state had decided to take Roque's life. Although I do not buy the court's reasons for commuting the sentence (mental illness and low IQ), I believe that life imprisonment will serve the same purpose as the death sentence for the family - that this individual be removed from society - without sustaining the cycle of killing.

By: Ennis

Ennis — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 23:21:29 +0000

Ususally I'm consistently pro-death (abortion, war, assisted-suicide); but while I have no moral qualms w/ capital punishment, I do have epistemological ones. If we are wrong about the defendents guilt, there is no way to reverse the decsion.

There was little doubt here - not only did he admit what he did, he defended it:

Roque claimed it was retaliation for the attacks in New York... He reportedly shouted slogans including "I am a patriot!" and "I stand for America all the way!" during his arrest [Link]

It was also pre-meditated:

A Boeing aircraft mechanic at a local repair facility, Roque held a criminal record for an attempted robbery in California, and had reportedly told friends and a waitress at a local Applebees restaurant that he was "going to go out and shoot some towel-heads" the day of the September 11th attacks.[Link]

The question was about his mental competency. Was he a bigot or was he loco?

Defence attorneys Daniel B. Patterson and Robert D. Stein argued he was not guilty due to insanity, claiming that he had a diminished IQ and heard relentless voices telling him that Arabs were satanic and must be killed. Two coworkers testified that Roque was "narrow-minded" and that he hated both immigrants and Arabs. [Link]

While I loathe the man, I don't have enough information to judge that.

By: Prasad

Prasad — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 21:22:52 +0000

I am glad some kind justice is served.

I used to think that it would be such a waste of money to keep criminals in jail and feeding them for life. Then I learnt that death penalty is also equally expensive, so they might as well keep him alive. They should give him holy book of Sikhs also, so that he would learn what repentence too.

By: Manju

Manju — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:51:39 +0000

Ususally I'm consistently pro-death (abortion, war, assisted-suicide); but while I have no moral qualms w/ capital punishment, I do have epistemological ones. If we are wrong about the defendents guilt, there is no way to reverse the decsion.

So yet another reason to celebrate this decision.