My PP in SQ explained how he feels about his death sentence.


" As for your comments concerning my seemingly blase attitude towards death, what can I say? When the quality of life is so poor at some point it seems not worth much. I have lived with the threat of death for so long that it seems natural to me now. While I don't seek death, I don't fear it either but rather look at it more as a final release from this lousy existence which I am so tired of. You need to understand that I have spent 34 years of my life in prison...that's a lot. I am nly 53 years old which means I have spent only about 19 years not in prison. Out of those 19 years I graduated from high school and spent about 2 years in the Army. The rest of my life has been in prison, locked up, freedom denied. Since 1971 I have only been out of prison for approximately 8 1/2 months. From my perspective dying is not something to fear. If I seem rather "cavalier" about it that's because I am. To live in here you can't be afraid of dying bacause it could happen at any time for almost any reason. To worry about dying would mean to be afraid all the time, especially hear on death row. I refuse to live in fear, period. When I do die, from whatever cause I will not regret how I lived. And if I lived my life, such as it is, worried about dying then I would have a lot to regret.... A wise man once said that we cannot choose the manner of our birth but we can choose the manner of our death. Anyway, I hope this helps explain a little of how I feel about this. I do hope that when I say these things about death and exhibit a somewhat nonchalant attitude about it that I don't come across as maudlin or depressed as that is not the case. It is just something that I don't think merits my worrying about."

Written by James Karis

I wonder what are your thoughts on this.Peace

WOW...girl, that was one of the most profound things I have ever read....34 years!!:eek: That makes me sad and angry at the same time. I am so glad that he has someone like you in his life. I too have often wondered the same question that you asked to solicit this response from him...wow, is all I can say for now....that is so much to digest.
Thanks for sharing.

That really got me thinking. For a number of reasons. First off, I have felt "the existance" thing myself, I think that we all have at one stage or another. But because we are out here, we have avenues to change things. To lock a person up the way they do with those on death row is wrong, it deprives them of everything that does exist in life, even the simple things, like being out in a day room together, having a chat, etc. All there choices are made for them.

My opinion is that there is life after death, something that does exist, but I still think that the death penalty is wrong. The way they are treated is degrading, people that have done crimes more heinous that dont recieve the death penalty get to make a "life in prison" The only reason I state "life in prison" is that my partner and I were talking about this the other day, he is facing a new sentencing trial, and he said, he would take life, for reasons such as family, love, and agreed, that if he wasnt locked up in a cell 23 hours a day, he could get educated, and accept what is going on.
Thanks so much for sharing, I guess I could go on and on, but what he said really had me thinking deep.

His letter breaks my heart. I understand what he is talking about and why he feels that way. Attorneys have been trying to get his death sentence overturned for years now and at one time we thought they did. It is still going on. He does not want it. he wants a new trial. He would rather die than live any longer on DR.
He is a good man. A good heart and very talented. I don't know if he is guilty or not since he cannot remember what happened, but I do know that he was falsly accused and arrested the time before this one. I do not know if DNA was tested yet or not.
This is the first thing I have seen from him in over 5 yrs.
Doesn't matter.
I love him anyway.
I don't want him to die.
He is my brother.
I miss him more than he knows. :cry:

Sherrie