It took a Kansas jury only thirty-seven minutes to convict Scott Roeder of first degree murder in the cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller. Thanks to those twelve jurors for recognizing the truth of these words:
“He claims justification,” Kim Parker, a prosecutor said, calling on jurors here to uphold the law, not Mr. Roeder’s views of abortion, which, she said, he had proudly trumpeted on the witness stand. “These are not the acts of a justified man. These acts are cowardly.”
Roeder, who was also convicted of two counts of aggravated assault, will now face life in prison.
I wish him a long, miserable, life full of suffering.
May Dr. Tiller’s memory continue to be a blessing to all the women he helped.
Good.
OH HELL YES. I hope he gets punched in the mouth, every hour on the hour, for the duration of his sentence.
I hope he rots in the hell he believes in so strongly-for other people.
Amen to your comment about Dr Tiller, Becky, and long life and good health to his colleagues and co-workers.
I am so relieved.
I’d like to see him charged with terrorism. Would that be a federal thing? I guess additional charges are unlikely at this point.
Good idea, @Spark:
http://www.now.org/press/11-09/11-09.html
Fingers crossed.
Relieved as well. I was the point person for a circle of friends who were too afraid of jackassery in the matter of the manslaughter charger to keep up with the trial themselves.
We are all releived.
Amen, Becky. Amen.
Justice was swift and sure; were it always thus.
Scott Roeders of the world take note: civilized society finds no justification in murder in anyone’s name, least of all God’s.
Oh, good. This restores some of my faith in humanity.
RIP Dr. Tiller.
I hope this conviction brings Dr. Tiller’s loved ones and colleagues some semblance of peace.
And hooray Kansas! I unexpectedly ended up spending a lot of time there, and even more unexpectedly developed a huge soft spot for the place (despite being a big ole SF lefty). The judge and jury did us proud today.
What Becky said. I am so relieved that there is some semblance of justice and good sense somewhere in this country.
Well, I’m glad that Mr. Roeder will have a long time to reflect on his actions, and I wish him a great deal of luck maintaining the belief that he is a divine instrument of God’s will.
Finally, a week with a WIN. As the Harpies noted, last week was a big pile of fail all around.
@bellacoker: Yeah, divine instrument of God, my ass. Didn’t Jesus preach something about peace? And “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” i.e. respect the fucking laws?
Thank the God that Roeder prays to! I echo everything above. Too fucking right it was murder!
@sarah: I’m not saying that he is, just that he seems to believe he is and I hope he can maintain the belief for himself, because what he has in front of him (sitting in prison for the next sixty years with nothing but doubt and uncertainty and regret for actions that he can do nothing to mitigate) sounds like Hell.
@bella: Oh, I knew you were using his phrasing and not your own! No worries!
I cheered when I saw this on the news.
I am glad to see that he was convicted but I will hold back my full praise until he is sentenced. On more than one occasion I have seen a guilty verdict ruined with a terrible sentence.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
I say again, what people are lacking isn’t TRUST in a womans choice. It’s respecting her choice.
I respect that jury for not letting this asshole get away with it. And good luck to him in jail, I wish him a long life to read in his bible
and hope he gets some history books as well. Since when has it been ok to kill in the name of god? “Holy” crusades, anyone? The slaughter of so many in the name of “good”? Even the Nazis thought what they were doing was in the name of good.
There has never been more damage done than by people who thought they where doing the right thing. (I don’t remember who said that)
I honestly never thought justice would be served. I am so happy that I was proven wrong. May Tiller rest in peace now.
Thirty-seven minutes.
Fucking fantastic. This has restored a bit of my faith in humanity.