This past Thursday, Teresa Lewis was put to death by lethal injection in the name of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Lewis was convicted of masterminding the murder of her husband and stepson in 2002, motivated by her acquisition of a $250,000 life insurance policy that her stepson had taken out.
Though Virginia had not executed a woman since 1912, it currently ranks second, behind only Texas, for the most executions in the country since the Supreme Court lifted the ban on capital punishment in 1976.
Of all the numerous injustices that allowed Lewis to be savagely murdered by the state, the most striking is her obvious mental incompetence.
Throughout the course of the trial, several psychiatric experts tested Lewis’s cognitive abilities.
It became evident that Lewis, whose IQ was 72, was incapable of planning this crime as the prosecutors said she did.
In fact, her psychological competence was far below the mental retardation line in areas of “planning” and “forward thinking.”
Though the Supreme Court declared the execution of those who fall at or below the mental retardation line (which is set at an IQ of 70) unconstitutional in Atkins v. Virginia (2002), it seems as though the Constitution cannot protect people who have an IQ two points above that.
Of all the horrors this case brings to light regarding the criminal justice system in the United States, the most terrifying is the incompetence of our so-called legal protectors.
Lewis pleaded before the Supreme Court for a stay of execution, but the court felt as though her murder was still the prerogative of the state.
In a far less surprising decision, Gov. Bob McDonnell (who has never made his bloodlust a secret) denied Lewis’ plea for clemency, disregarding the 7,300 appeals his office received.
Where are we to turn for protection when our protectors show, at best, rampant incompetence and at worst downright savagery?
The tragic murder of Lewis brings to light the need for this country to once again open a debate regarding the death penalty.
Coupled with such issues as abortion, same-sex marriage or flag burning, the debate over capital punishment seems to serve only the electoral victory of politicians.
But these are not issues that exist to serve the arrogance of our rulers.
They are issues that are at the heart of the values we are supposed to hold in the highest esteem.
A version of this article appeared in the Sep 29 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Yeah, lets reopen the debate on capital punishment starting right now. Here is a list of crimes for which people should be put to death.
murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, gang affiliation with several past felonies, gang affiliation with an organization that is damaging the lives of innocent people (example extorting local business owners for gang profit) I could go on. We live in a filthy society and we should consider now to be a good time to turn things around by weeding out the savages among us and making life better for innocent humans who end up being targets of these horrible people.
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Grow up Jason. Eye for an eye.
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Ok firstly, you REALLY need to shut up with all this "savagely murdered by the state" crap, ok? It was lethal injection and Id hardly call that savage. They put you to sleep and then stop your heart. Secondly, please shut up because youve lost all credibility of forethought by comparing capitcal punishment to the importance of educating our children. You sound like a baffoon to be honest. I DO NOT agree with the death penalty but even I will admit that sometimes evil people need to just be put down. What would you do? If we had an American town that had a murder rate like Cuidad Juarez, Mexico where 20,000 people have died in ONE YEAR (ill recheck that figure but u get my point)... in ONE CITY... and you rounded all of those murderers up, what would you do? Are you gonna run to the florist and grab some daisies to put in the tips of their guns? You gonna round em up and put em in a big jail and keep adding to the population while charging the tax paying public to keep feeding and bathing and teaching these murderers? Sit down and think before writing crap like this. The least you could do is make a compelling argument instead of trying to convince us that the state jumped out of V for Vendetta!
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Unfortunately, there are people in this world who do terrible things. They murder children, shoot old people, rob and kill, etc. Society cannot allow these people to continue to do these kinds of things. No society ever has. To say the Governor of Virgina has a "bloodlust" is just plain stupid. Go visit a murder site some day and see what a murdered 13-year-old looks like.
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to say that putting these criminals to death accomplishes the goal of protecting society is incorrect. Imprisoning these criminals protects society. Killing them is a way of collectively venting our anger. "bloodlust" if i may
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These killers get off easy if you ask me.Some of them spend decades in prison before being put down. The state should have the gallows ready the day after conviction,if it was a slam dunk as far as guilt is concerned. Why should tax payers flip the bill for all these people who rob and kill people. As a matter of fact, these killer should die the same way they killed their victims. This country is turning into a bunch of bleeding heart losers,like the writer of this article. What if Jason's family got slaughtered by that woman,would he take her to school everyday to boost her IQ?
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I can give you over 100 reasons. That is how many people who have been release from prison because they have been wrongfully convicted. Some of these men have spent over 20 years locked up for crimes they have not committed. Or maybe you are one of those people who think a few innocent people being executed is ok.
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Stop and think though, most of the people that were wrongly convicted did the deeds and went to court decades ago. Men and women that are convicted these days have loads of very credible evidence against them, mostly DNA. How can you say that these people shouldn't be put to death? Yes, our incompetence in non-circumstantial evidence has put many innocent people in jail, and even to death. But the rate is very low these days, and these people need to face the consequences!
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Are you serious? We arent talking about innocent people killed on death row. Lets talk numbers ok and for the record i think its horrible when innocent people are put in jail for years at a time before being let out. But... that happens WAY LESS than youre making it sound. Let me pose a question to you... you would have to agree that in order for us to have what youd consider a perfect society where there is NO death penalty, we'd have to settle for a "slightly" more violent world, right??? By that same token then, how can you NOT find it an unfortunate but acceptable option to USE the death penalty and save lives in the process??? Essentially what im saying is, i think lots of people would be willing to sacrifice a few less-than-deserving people in order for the system to stay in place and keep protecting us and getting rid of the killers who DO deserve it. But i could be wrong. It boggles the mind!
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Great comments on the injustice to Teresa Lewis, however, I failed to read comments about the injustice to her two victims. She got a much better deal than those poor souls.
Wake up America, stop giving criminals all the breaks and supporting the same old lame excuses. She got what she deserved, good job VA, next!
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I would rather see criminals Injected, Firing Squad or hanged opposed to us having to pay tax $$$ to keep them alive behind bars, Hang a criminal, Save a few bucks. Makes sense to me, It seems prisoners have far too many rights as it is, The can still get drugs in prison. Remove all of their rights, A prisoner cost around $30,000.00 a year, A good rope cost less then $10.00 & can be used more then once.
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Teresa Lewis was not retarded. Her supporters wanted to lead the public to believe she was. However, they downplayed the facts that Teresa managed to graduate from high school and get a nursing professional certificate without any inkling of being "limited".
When she was facing capital murder charges, Teresa tried to skew her IQ test score by intentionally missing answers to get a score below 70 and thus be spared execution. The administering psychologist perceived this and noted in her report, "Teresa didn't seem to be giving it her best effort".
She wasn't executed for being a "mastermind" to a murder, she was executed for hiring two men to commit two murders on her behalf in return for payment. That's murder for hire and its a capital offense in Virginia.
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Virginia has executed some very dangerous people. Teresa Lewis, a "black widow" who arranged the murder of loved ones in the sanctity of one's own family home, belongs among that group.
Let's see - in March, Virginia executed Paul Powell, who stabbed a 16 year old to death who spurned his advances, then later tried to murder her 13 year old sister, slashing her up with a survival knife and trying to choke her with her own shoelaces before he raped her.
Last November, Virginia executed John Allen Muhammad, aka the DC Sniper. Remember "your children are not safe at any time" and the random shootings outside gas stations, stores and schools?
Sometime in the next year or two, we can add Blacksburg's own William Morva to the list. He's the one who was an escapee on the run who gunned down a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital and then ambushed sheriff's deputy Eric Sutphin on the Huckleberry Trail. His running about wild led to the campus lockdown eight months before 4/16.
He should come up for execution in 2012.
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Jason Campbell needs to wake up from his dream of a perfect society and get over it. She is dead and cannot ever kill, or conspire with anyone else to kill, another person. That is a good thing.
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If I had two people murdered and got caught, you can bet the house that I'll score lower on
any IQ test than Teresa Lewis did. I'll make sure I do. I'll also start reading the Bible (new testament, thank you) all day and giving piano lessons to other inmates while I'm waiting for my trial to start. I'll be the biggest do-gooder in the world. But that wouldn't change the fact that I had two people killed, in order to get money. Good riddance. Even people with a low IQ can remember that if you kill, you may get killed. Not that complicated.
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nice clockwork orange reference
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Terrible Journalism. Simply stating your opinion openly, is not journalism. I am no fan of giving the State the right to execute citizens, but all of your points are obviously biased, and do not make sense. This woman by the way, set her Husband and his son up to be murdered by two morons she hired, she opened the door for the gunman (literally), she is not just some incompetent, poor woman. She was someone who, according to our society, was a disgusting excuse for a human. Don't quit your day job, Jason.
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this is in the opinion section...
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You should have done a lot more research...as in more facts. This sounds like you are just rambling with your biased political opinion. The only thing I found interesting at all, was you say there is a cutoff for retard versus not retard of 70. What's the expected variation in IQ scores for a person? What is so special about 70? How do the psychs know she isn't faking the test? Anybody can miss answers on purpose to look stupid if they have to. She conspired the deed, she was sentenced to death and actually got it. What's the problem?
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Who is this claiming they are Jason Campbell's mom? His real mom did not make these comments, would NEVER use the word "retard," and would not respond to her son's words using this synical language. However, you make a good point about missing answers on purpose to lower her IQ score, and I do agree with your last two sentences. Next time, use your own name.
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Wah wah wah "I'm against killing people", "I'm for killing people." Irrelevant.
This woman did not kill anybody. It's wrong to kill her. End of story.
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It was capital murder. She hired (paid money) to others to do murders at her bidding. She was the instigator of the deaths of her husband and stepson
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Thank you for reiterating my point.
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Thank you for reiterating my point.
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