Dylann Roof's Lawyers File Challenge to Death Penalty, Say It's Unconstitutional
Defense attorneys of accused killer Dylan Roof filed a legal challenge to the capital punishment being sought by federal prosecutors in his murder trial on Monday night, arguing the punishment is unconstitutional.
"[T]his Court should rule that the federal death penalty constitutes a legally prohibited, arbitrary, cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by both the Fifth and Eighth Amendments," Roof's lawyers wrote in the 30-plus page motion.
Roof, who is white, is accused of killing black worshipers at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2015. The Justice Department is seeking the death penalty against him, including hate crime charges for allegedly targeting his victims on the basis of their race and religion.
Read More At: http://abcnews.go.com/US/dylann-roofs-lawyers-file-challenge-death-penalty-unconstituational/story?id=41059561
Seems cowardly to me. No crime is more deserving of the death penalty as this one.
That said, I do understand, some are against the death penalty in all cases and claim they are pro-life. This religious position I do respect.
