Victims...

An eye for an eye? Depends who you ask. Most people feel strongly one way or the other. Such is the dilemma in the case of Juan Manuel Alvarez. For those of you who don't know, he was the guy in Southern California who parked his SUV on the railroad tracks in an "apparent" suicide attempt. He however decided to abort at the last second saving his own life, but causing the crash of a commuter train and taking the lives of eleven innocent victims. Now he's being charged with murder- with special circumstances- that could bring him the death penalty.

Good, right? Not to some.

A recent aricle found in one of the independent media sites entitled Deadly Idiocy: Killing Killers who want to be killed by Dave Lindorff is a completely biased, anti-death penalty laced attempt to ridicule those who believe Alvarez needs to pay the ultimate price for perpetrating such a crime.

The article contains several opinions, half truths, and mis-stated facts. Among them:

1."You really know the state killers have lost it when they call for the death penalty for someone who was just trying to kill himself in the first place."

Errrrr.... wrong Mr. Lindorff. According to a report from KTVU San Francisco, it appears that Alvarez had no intention of killing himself: "Police said that although Alvarez "may have contemplated suicide, his actions were deliberate with the intent on causing horrific tragedy."
Investigators said they believe Alvarez thought his actions would impress his estranged wife."

AND if perhaps you don't believe that a FOX affiliated station could ever produce something of truth, then take a look at this blog posting from LAVoice.org. Here you will find further evidence that the crash was FAR from an accident.

And REALLY... "The State Killers?" C'mon...

2."Leaving aside whether it is even right to punish—particularly to punish with death-- someone who is so whacked out that he tries to kill himself by parking in front of a moving train, what point is there in killing him for doing it? What he really needs is psychiatric help."

Psychiatric help??? Try drug counseling. An article on the Fox News Website reports that Alvarez has a history of drug abuse. In an interview with Alvarez's wife, she says "He is using drugs and has been in and out of rehab twice." Alvarez continues, "He threatened to take our kid away and to hurt my family members." She also states that his alleged hallucinations were caused by drug use.

Sounds like an upstanding member of society who just made a mistake, eh Lindorff?


3."Naturally, someone who commits such a crime, causing even if unintentionally, the deaths of nearly a dozen innocent people, needs to face consequences of some kind."

Even if unintentionally? Consequences of some kind? What kind of consequences? A slap on the wrist? Probation, perhaps? Take a look at stories by the victims. Read about the last moments of one man who before dying, thanked his rescuers for pulling him out of the wreckage and not letting him burn alive.
Or read about the trapped man who left a message in blood on a train seat saying he loved his wife and kids, as he thought he was about to die. These poor innocent people did nothing to deserve this. Most of the passengers were headed to work intent on doing something productive with their lives... not something DESTRUCTIVE like Juan Manuel Alvarez.

By the way, there is nothing "unintentional" about leaving your SUV parked on train tracks.

4."But killing him, while certainly protecting society from any future idiocies by Mr. Alvarez, may well encourage more such kamakazi acts by other disturbed individuals like him."

Pure speculation. Perhaps making an example of Alvarez by expiditing his ass straight to Death Row will make the next drug abusing, hallucinating, attention wanting, A-HOLE think twice before endangering and taking the lives of innocent people.


5."All the state will accomplish by injecting him with their deadly cocktail of toxins at the end of a high-profile legal process and millions of dollars in legal costs will be helping him to do what he didn't have the courage to do himself. Far better to lock Mr. Alvarez away for a long time, so that others of a similar mind may ponder the idea of spending years behind bars, without so much as a rope to hang themselves with."

What a wonderful idea. Instead of spending "millions of dollars in legal costs" to put him to death, let's instead spend that money on keeping him alive in jail. Perhaps he will see the error of his ways, become a model prisoner, and enjoy visits from friends and family. Perhaps he will one day even be allowed conjugal visits! WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT?!

Meanwhile the families of those taken in the wreck will forever have a void in their lives. Life for them will never be the same. And their tax dollars will go to support the life of the sonofabitch who ruined theirs.

Where is the justice in that?