I know we're all against the death penalty now, some of us out of principle, and some (like myself) because in practice it is an enormously flawed and corrupt process, but the fact is that Dylann Stormfront Roof is 22 years old, and the rest of his life, even if he lives to be eighty, will be just like this, unless he finds someone to "ride" with for protection:
Don't get me wrong, I have zero sympathy for Roof and whatever demented cause that drove him to his fateful moment, although Roof clearly came from let's say suboptimal circumstances. But the fact of the matter is that life without parole also presents a complex set of dangers and challenges: people who are literally disincentivized from attacking other inmates, guards, etc.
Supposedly the death penalty will be sought against Roof, and maybe it'll happen, or maybe it will just enable them to keep him in a more supervised environment for the next half-century. Either way, chances are Roof will spend the rest of his life not contemplating his sins, but deciding whether to become prey or predator. That's all the carceral state is anymore.
Dylann Roof was attacked after he was let out of his cell to take a shower at around 7:45 a.m. Thursday, Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said at a news conference.Don't worry, the guards can be trusted to keep young master Roof in (to use the colloquial) PC:
As Roof left his cell, inmate Dwayne Stafford “ran down the stairs and was able to get to Roof, who was at or near the shower area,” the sheriff said.
Stafford, who is black, punched Roof “a number of times and assaulted him quickly,” Cannon said.
Officials are investigating how Stafford managed to get through a steel cell door with a narrow vertical window and down the stairs to reach Roof.Yeah, that is indeed a mystery. Sure hope they get to the bottom of that. So to speak. Start with the equipment malfunction. Lose any videotape of the event that might exist. One thing we definitely know for sure is that prison guards are absolutely incorruptible.
The two detention officers assigned to the unit are being interviewed and officials are also looking into the possibility the electronic door mechanism malfunctioned.
The area of the jail is for federal and high-security prisoners. It has two tiers of cells and the shower Roof was using was in the center on the ground floor. Cell doors can only be opened by officers sitting at a control console.
Don't get me wrong, I have zero sympathy for Roof and whatever demented cause that drove him to his fateful moment, although Roof clearly came from let's say suboptimal circumstances. But the fact of the matter is that life without parole also presents a complex set of dangers and challenges: people who are literally disincentivized from attacking other inmates, guards, etc.
Supposedly the death penalty will be sought against Roof, and maybe it'll happen, or maybe it will just enable them to keep him in a more supervised environment for the next half-century. Either way, chances are Roof will spend the rest of his life not contemplating his sins, but deciding whether to become prey or predator. That's all the carceral state is anymore.
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