Defining Murder Down: Why does Dr. Tiller's killer get to argue that his alleged crime was justified?
By Emily Bazelon The trial of the accused killer of Dr. George Tiller looked extremely simple. A man walks up the steps of a church, pulls out a gun, and shoots another man in the face. He planned the whole thing after allegedly stalking Tiller. We call that murder, as we should, and after a suspect is convicted, we sentence accordingly. But on Tuesday, the judge trying Scott Roeder, Tiller's accused killer, left dangling the possibility that Roeder can show that he committed not murder but voluntary manslaughter. To show this, Roeder will be allowed to argue that he was justified in shooting Tiller because he was trying to "protect the unborn." This is a truly terrible interpretation of the criminal law that would allow for all kinds of bogus political defenses to murder, handy for pro-life vigilantes as well as any terrorist who believes he is on a holy mission to save lives. Visit Slate.com to read the entire article.
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