Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE US STATE of South Dakota yesterday executed an inmate who said that jurors at his trial were prejudiced against him because he was gay.
Charles Rhines, who was 63-years-old, was put to death by lethal injection soon after the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal by his lawyers claiming that his trial was tainted.
Rhines was sentenced to death in 1993 for killing an employee in a shop he was robbing in the rural state.
“It is very sad and profoundly unjust that the State of South Dakota today executed Charles Rhines, a gay man, without any court ever hearing the evidence of gay bias that infected the jury’s decision to sentence him to death,” his lawyer Shawn Nolan said.
According to a court filing on Rhines’ behalf, a juror who voted for the death penalty said that “we also knew that (Rhines) was a homosexual and thought that he shouldn’t be able to spend his life with men in prison”.
Another said that “there was lots of discussion of homosexuality” and “a lot of disgust” according to the document.
“Anti-gay prejudice should never have any role in sentencing a man to death,” said Nolan.
Rhines’ case gained the backing of the powerful American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), whose senior attorney Ria Tabacco Mar cited Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as saying “our law punishes people for what they do, not who they are”.
Last year, Rhines’ defence team appealed to the Supreme Court to take up the case and expand on a 2017 ruling that allowed it to examine secret jury deliberations in cases where there were strong grounds to suspect racial prejudice.
But the Supreme Court declined to do so, without giving a reason for the decision.
“Both racial prejudice and anti-gay prejudice have no place in the criminal justice system. Both undermine public confidence in the fairness of the system, particularly when jurors must decide between life imprisonment and death,” said Nolan.
The South Dakota attorney general’s office, however, said that the jury decided to impose the death penalty after hearing a recording of Rhines’ confession, and not because of his sexual orientation.
“The jurors have stated they were moved to a death sentence by the calloused and gruesome nature of the murder and, most of all, by Rhines’ bloodcurdling confession, in which he cackles while comparing (his victim’s) death spasms to a beheaded chicken running around a barnyard.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Shame on our government, school saved by Zurich Insurance?
Our government are more concerned with scoring political points on sinn fein
absolutely.hang your heads in shame fg and lab. doing absolutely nothing for our national language or education in this country.demoralising teachers is the mark of their time in government and reducing teacher numbers
Hyperbolic nonsense to say that the govt are doing “absolutely nothing” either about the language or education, calm yourself down.
Get a life my friend. If you still want to be managed by these gombeens OK. But the Irish electorate has woken up. They sick and tired of of being abused by professional politicians on the gravy train.
And they are changing the printers, about the cost of a teacher, they are totally mad and out of control, http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/astonished-lucinda-insists-we-dont-want-new-printers-31480577.html
That message was intended to James Dunne.
Comhghairdeas pobail Inis Meáin!
Great news
Any chance of covering the kick in the teeth Educate Together in Castlebar got today. 16 Catholic schools in the town & ET were being forced by dept of ed to accept a run down shack 8km from the town. Secular children are the new second class citizens.
In the vast vast majority, catholic schools are far better for education than secular schools. The results in leaving certs and junior certs don’t lie
“8km from the town” in other words a 10 min drive the poor souls.
There are zero secular schools in Ireland so how do you know Catholic are better?
better parents perhaps?
Nah lying to kids about sky fairies is child abuse!
Santa and the Easter bunny child abuse too?. If you’re to lazy to head to mass on a Sunday and even complain about a ten minutes travel to a school then I’d guess such a lazy attitude would rub off on the children. That’s even before the strong moral catholic ethos that both parent and teachers install in their children. If “skyfairies” keep children in line and learning isn’t it great rather then having them running around like headcases.
The “sky fairies” reference also just proves the confrontational nature and intolerance that been installed in many ET students by their parents,belittling others beliefs and equating it to child abuse, Well done.Thanks.
Well considering that Castlebar has a secular secondary school, you clearly have no idea what you’re on about.
That’s great going considering they only have 3 children in the school
http://education.ie/en/find-a-school/School-Detail/?roll=12339I
Surely that can’t be right, can it? Perhaps they should keep pushing so they could have a 1 teacher to 1 student ratio FFS!
And a principle post/wage for that hahaha
Last years enrolement afaik. Few more starting this year. Even from a H&S and Child Protection perspective, one teacher should not be on their own. If the island schools are ignored, they might as well move it down to Kerry to join the Blaskets.
Brilliant News!
jaysus! they love St two teachers. Right I’m sending the kids there, the wife aswell.
*lost. damn I blew it! argggghh
Dheasceal, rinne Zurich rud Iontach , ar feadh cupla Bhlian ar a laghad .
have your say