I think in the US there is some issue as well regarding executions using 'drugs currently used in medicinal treatment', ie you can't kill them with a drug used for medical purposes.

Bizarrely, you have to also give them an antiseptic swab and use a clean sterile needle (as if infection is something of a concern).

Not too bothered about the 35+ people killed by the released murderers then?

That Roof should be punished -- savagely so -- is beyond doubt. To me, justice has to serve the dual purpose of both punishment and, in so far as possible, rehabilitation but the punishment comes first. He should serve life without parole and the early part of that sentence should be unremittingly and mercilessly hard, whatever that may entail. At some point the punishment element has to be considered largely discharged simply because it makes no sense to have a human being that you don't make some effort to rehabilitate but he has to suffer for what he's done wrong before any attempt should be made to encourage him to do right.

Roof sickens me but -- and you may dislike this -- just as society takes credit for the good it creates so the evil it produces is also a reflection of the society as a whole. Roof didn't emerge from his mother's womb a fully formed hatred machine; society at least helped to shape him. That is not to let him off the hook or blame society for what he did. No way; he alone is responsible for his actions and he alone should pay for them. But as a society, it would be irresponsible not to ask ourselves "where does race hate come from?" If we don't ask the question then we miss the chance to address the problem.

Is Roof pure evil? It's an interesting question. I doubt it. When I look at his photo I see pure stupidity; a child masquerading as a man, hiding under the iconography of race hate as if that somehow bestowed on him adult status and legitimised his view of himself as a "freedom fighter" (sic), an emancipator of his race. Evil in one way yes, but confused, stupid, low IQ, easily led, almost a cartoon villain in another. Roof is the answer for a village in search of an idiot.

He, it seems to me, lacked the wit to even articulate his position as a mass murderer to any great effect; he's ended up as just another dumb southern white kid with a gun. Evil? In one way, yes. But more witless, pointless and ignorant in another. I doubt Roof is really clever enough to be evil. That, if nothing else, requires guile and intelligence. Like most people who do stupid things he probably just wanted attention and lacked the nous to even go about something that simple in an effective way. He's two-bit scum, but not even really capable of evil; just rank, base and utterly destructive idiocy.

His story is a mixture of ignorance, tragedy and despair. I hope he burns in hell, but not at the behest of the state.

Edited by sydtheeagle (22 Jun 2015 5.12pm)

What if that one innocent person was you?

You'd be dead.

I'd be interested to know if Roof has brothers and sisters and if so what type of up bringing they had as well as Roof of course.
also has Roofs family condemmed the killings?