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Bush, first President in 50 years to Approve the Execution of a Soldier.
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by politisite | July 28, 2008 at 05:52 pm
483 views | 19 Recommendations | 5 comments
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President George W. Bush became the first American president in half a century to approve the execution of a soldier.
Administration officials said Bush signed the paperwork approving the military's request to execute an army private who has been on death row since 1988
U.S. military personnel cannot be executed without the president's approval.
Ronald A. Gray, now 42, was convicted in connection with four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area during an eight-month period in the late 1980s, while he was stationed at Fort Bragg.
Only 10 members of the U.S. military have been executed by presidential approval since 1951, when the Uniform Code of Military Justice — the military's modern-day legal system — was enacted into law.
President Dwight Eisenhower was the last U.S. leader to authorize a military execution. In 1957, he approved the hanging of John Bennett, an army private convicted of raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl.
Bush is the first American president to be faced with such a decision in more than 46 years. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy decided to commute the death sentence of Jimmie Henderson, a Navy seaman, to confinement for life.
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politisite
Columbia, South Carolina, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 22:57 on July 28th, 2008
politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 02:27 on July 29th, 2008
politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff. Important news, and an excellent death chamber picture. Scary!
at 04:38 on July 29th, 2008
politisite, Let us know when this scum stops breathing...It is 20 years too late..
at 09:41 on August 8th, 2008
politisite, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Of course we all know too, that as Texas Governor, he pulled the switch on more inmates than any other in history. Killing, whether it be 9/11 victims or our soldiers in Iraq, is nothing new to him.
at 10:13 on August 8th, 2008
I am not much for the death penalty unless there is overwelming physical evidence. The equal pertection clause which was fist put into effect on 1870 provides for equal protection under the law. when prosecuters have unlimited resources and poor defendents have public defenders with budget restrictions.. that is not equal protection. It comes down to how much money for defence you can buy.
Before the democrats look at universal healthcare... they might socialize the legal system so OJ Simpson, Robert Blake, and others get Better leagal help, while the poor among us get death row. The lady liberty is blind... but her scales bend toward highly funded defence teams. This the system is uneaqual.
No matter how much we think one should die for their crimes... until the legal system is fixed... we should not be sending folks to the ultimate price... I am a conservative.. so my politics are tough on crime.