In our extended Eye Poll, our readers came to the same conclusion that we did... pardon him. The 390 Eye Readers in our unscientific poll 57% believed Elton John Richard II should be pardoned by Governor Richardson, 39% said no way, 2% didn't know, and another 2% didn't care (view the results here).
As you probably know, we agree with the majority. A pardon seems in order as two wrongs don't make a right. Richard protected himself, his family, the rest of us, and made every attempt to bring Daniel Romero into custody - which would have protected the felon from himself. In our opinion a pardon is in order simply because Richard acted in the best interests of his family and society.
This week's Eye Poll is a bit esoteric. But we're really interested in what beliefs you think are important in a candidate for any office. Take a moment and think about the things you believe in and which beliefs are compatible with your own. Don't forget to vote!
6 comments:
What's happening to the Cop from Las Vegas, NM who was charge with shooting a bad guy who was driving away from him. I know he got some prison time, but maybe we should work on getting him a pardon also. It has been some years ago, I can't recall the Officers name.
Get over this already! Richards done the crime but will do no time. This is New Mexico, everybody's just got to throw in their 2cents worth. Should have just let the sentence stand, but politicians rule the day here in the badlands.
Who else can we get off? Surely there are others who've chased someone over the hills and dales only to be forced to shoot the person being chased.
"Well, yes...it's true that I did chase the guy. Yes, yes, I ran after him...but it was self-defense, I tell you! Self Defense!"
How can the people of New Mexico allow the judicial system to back pedal on a sentence that was correctly determined as a crime? They say two wrongs don't make a right. They say that Mr. Richard did the community a favor by killing Mr. Romero. They say that vigilante justice was served. The law is for everyone. You can not have conditional laws in a society and expect it to survive. Mr. Richard surprised, fought, chased away and then gave chase ending in a shooting death of that suspect. He did not have to give chase. Where was his concern for his family and property when he went on his deadly chase. What if Mr. Romero had others working with him that could have used the chase to enter his then undefended home and do harm? Mr. Richard is an idiot who thought he could apprehend a criminal single handedly and come off a hero. Well he turned out to be a bloody hero who knows privately that he screwed up and got somebody killed for nothing. And apparently a group of people in this ass-backward state agreed with the crime that Richard commited. As a society we should be disturbed at what has happened. We the people of state of New Mexico allowed the vocal mob to intimidate the justice system into letting a guilty man walk. Be warned....next time you might find yourself in a situation where the law is applied unfairly and the mob rules against you! Equal law for everyone.
You other commentators are morons. Don't feel bad though, being a moron is merely a side-effect of being deprived of real world experience. I know for a fact not one of you have ever had a weapon pointed at you in anger, never felt the sting of a tire iron or the dull crack of a wooden bat in the frigid night air of a dark parking lot.
Your opinions are meaningless, because they are rooted in your empty middle-class ideals. Perhaps one of these nights when a coked-out scum bag draws your card, and you have to make a life or death decision, you can stand trial and explain your reasoning to a mob of ignorant idealists who don't know you and weren't there.
Anonymous 1/25/09 has a problem. He is of the opinion that he knows me. Sorry to disappoint you...but you only know yourself. You seem to think that your opinion is the only one that is right and everyone elses is wrong. So are you a fanatic? Perhaps a right-wing, gun lovin, right-to-lifer...well maybe not a right-to-lifer, god fearing...hmmm...maybe not god fearing either. Maybe your an aethist. Maybe a bible-thumper. Or maybe just a narrow-minded individual that hates the world and has a circle of friends comprised of one.
The fact is that I don't know you either. You are entitled to your opinion just as the other so-called moronic commentators have theirs. Everyone has a different life experience. Some are better. Some are worse. Bad things happen to good people all the time. I'm a good person and bad things have happened to me. We don't live in a perfect world. As long as human beings are sentient and can make choices, people are going to get hurt. Most people with a sense of right or wrong will not defend the actions of the "coked-out scum bag" that brings you or a loved one any harm or pain or worse. But if the scum bag stops what he is doing before anyone you are protecting is harmed and runs away thus ending the threat you should stay with your loved ones and continue your job as protector. You do not turn into a hunter leave your family unprotected and try to become some kind of a hero getting the scumbag killed. That is why we have a police force, judicial system, and prisons. When someone commits a crime, be it the scumbag or a supposed law-abiding citizen, you should go to jail. That's why we have laws. Obviously they are not perfect. But if we had no laws the situation would be far worse.
So the scumbag is dead though he killed no one. And the law-abiding homeowner turned vigilante killed the scumbag because he let his emotions get the best of him. Who is the animal and who was the victim here?
I realize that I'm not going to change your mind with any of this. And you are still of the opinion that I'm a moron. The difference between you and I is that I beleive most people are law-abiding and would not have gone after the perpetrator but instead stayed and protected their family and home. While you sir are of the opinion that people are animals and you are superior. You are sadly mistaken.
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