Death Penalty #1

Clifford Boggess was rightfully executed. He murdered two elderly men and even though he claimed to be repenting for the terrible crimes he had commit, there is no way that he can honestly say he has forgiven himself for the horrific times he has caused both families. I do not believe that people can so easily change as to one day be a murderer and a few months later be an avid christian that has been released of all his sins. I think that by acting like he thinks "Jesus has forgiven me of my sins because I have forgiven myself" was a way that Boggess tried to mitigate his case.

I do hold sympathy for Boggess due to his home life growing up. If I were a lawyer I would consider his childhood a huge mitigating factor. It is important to note that Boggess' childhood was terrible. He was abused verbally, mentally, and physically. The average child who was abused as a child is more likely to be an abusive person as they age. Maybe if Boggess was not abused as a child he would not have grown up to be what he became: a murderer.

However above his horrific childhood, his lack of remorse of what he had done was a greater aggravating factor. Boggess, in the documentary, seemed as if he didn't care that he was on death row. Why should society care about the life of Clifford Boggess if Clifford Boggess failed to even care about his own life. Sure he may have been an influential artist- he had a lot of talent, but that doesn't make up for the fact that he took the life of two people. Everyones life is meaningful there is no doubt about it. But when one person takes the lives of others, why should they deserve to live?

Justice was not what the families of the victims got. Even they said that they did not feel any better after the death of Boggess than they did when he was in jail. The families of the victims have a complete right to feel hatred towards Boggess but that hatred wasn't just going to erase itself after Clifford Boggess was put to rest. To come to terms with the death of their loved ones, the families need to find their own ways to move on but the death of Clifford Boggess will not achieve that for them.

yours truly,
Amy