RI - Michael Woodmansee, killer of Jason Foreman, 5, released 12 years early

[southcitymom]

Killing another human being is never the right choice. And it's a particularly egregious choice when done with forethought and intention. Killing is a poor choice if you are a sexual deviant, and it's a poor choice if you are a grieving parent.

Why become a murderer when murder is what has brought such sadness into your heart? Why embrace that darkness?

My prayers for both these men.

 

[southcitymom]

I'm back. I needed to educate myself on this case.
As my friend Willie said
"Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree......"

I have never been one to endorse vigilante justice but in this case, Justice was not served. IMO she is still screaming out to be served in the case. There is justifiable homicide, kwim?

BBM

That's the thing. We humans don't have the power to bring about justice. Ever. Even if this child murderer had been put to death - that doesn't bring about justice in this case - it doesn't even the scales or give the dead child back to his parents.

Sometimes I think our concept of justice is so "eye for an eye" because we are crazy frustrated that we don't have the power to truly right the wrongs that others do.

Vigilante "justice" makes even less sense than the justice we try to find in our court system.

I understand this father's feeling of powerlessness and helplessness. I do not believe he will feel more powerful or in control if he chooses to kill.

 

[Dr.Fessel]

If I was the father I would do it in a minute. At least 1 out of his 12 peers will agree with him.

 

[redkatrampant]

BBM

That's the thing. We humans don't have the power to bring about justice. Ever. Even if this child murderer had been put to death - that doesn't bring about justice in this case - it doesn't even the scales or give the dead child back to his parents.

Sometimes I think our concept of justice is so "eye for an eye" because we are crazy frustrated that we don't have the power to truly right the wrongs that others do.

Vigilante "justice" makes even less sense than the justice we try to find in our court system.

I understand this father's feeling of powerlessness and helplessness. I do not believe he will feel more powerful or in control if he chooses to kill.

BBM

With all due respect, and I do respect your opinion.
If we go with that thought, that we can't really have any justice, then why bother? Why even get all worked up, if there is never gonna be any true justice?

 

[SilkySifaka]

This guy killed a child, ATE him, shellacked his bones as trophies and instead of the DP got only 40 years on second degree murder charges. Are you kidding me? So, now he can get out and do it all again? Can you imagine the panic, as a parent, you'd feel knowing this guy was loose in your area? When will the rights of the public and the victims come before the animals who kill, rape and EAT our children. I'm going to be ill.

This is where it would have been far better for him to get the verdict I think is obvious here. Insane. Keep him locked up in a secure hospital for the criminally insane just like they did Ed Geiss who died of old age inside one. IMO it is obvious he is insane and yes i think he will do it again because it sure isn't the curable sort. To many think that it means getting off but it doesn't. Can mistakes be made, yes. But seems more are made in the prison system like here if you are dealing with someone who is truly insane. I bet he knew what he was doing and it was wrong by our standards, but that doesn't mean he should get 28 yrs and out.

 

[redkatrampant]

If I was the father I would do it in a minute. At least 1 out of his 12 peers will agree with him.

There are a group of "good ol boys" that I know that would gladly take him hunting in the swamp.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Apparently, life in prison without parole did not exist or was not used as a punishment until the 1980's so that's why you hear about murderers from the 70's getting released in the 2000's. It's the reason why Charles Manson is up for parole every few years, because he was originally sentenced to death, but since the DP was ruled unconstitutional sometime in the 70s, he was given the next most severe sentence, which was a life sentence. At the time, everyone who was under a life sentence was eligible for parole at some point, but today we have different types of lifers: those who are never eligible for parole and those who are.

 

[tlcya]

I could see my husband having this sort of idea, were our circumstances similar. The only difference is, DH would probably not announce it to the press, he would simply take the action he wanted and deal with the consequences after the facts.

My heart breaks for this child's parents and I so understand the father not being able to reconcile this monster roaming free again but it concerns me - this announcement.

 

[Dr.Fessel]

BBM

That's the thing. We humans don't have the power to bring about justice. Ever. Even if this child murderer had been put to death - that doesn't bring about justice in this case - it doesn't even the scales or give the dead child back to his parents.

Sometimes I think our concept of justice is so "eye for an eye" because we are crazy frustrated that we don't have the power to truly right the wrongs that others do.

Vigilante "justice" makes even less sense than the justice we try to find in our court system.

I understand this father's feeling of powerlessness and helplessness. I do not believe he will feel more powerful or in control if he chooses to kill.

Sometimes I think we get the meaning of Justice mixed up.

If I am in school and I take a test, the teacher then grades that test or "judges it" and scores it. If I got all the questions right I get an A. Now if the teacher gave me a B and I had them all right then there was an "injustice" for me. Not my parents, not my family and not my friends. The "injustice" was for me.

This man went before this judge and like in my case where I earned an A but only got a B, this man deserved life without parole or the death penalty and the judge failed this man. The judge did an injustice to this man by not giving him the penalty he earned and deserved.

There was no injustice done to this family or society, the injustice was done to this man, he did not get the "grade" or sentence he deserved.

 

[southcitymom]

Sometimes I think we get the meaning of Justice mixed up.

If I am in school and I take a test, the teacher then grades that test or "judges it" and scores it. If I got all the questions right I get an A. Now if the teacher gave me a B and I had them all right then there was an "injustice" for me. Not my parents, not my family and not my friends. The "injustice" was for me.

This man went before this judge and like in my case where I earned an A but only got a B, this man deserved life without parole or the death penalty and the judge failed this man. The judge did an injustice to this man by not giving him the penalty he earned and deserved.

There was no injustice done to this family or society, the injustice was done to this man, he did not get the "grade" or sentence he deserved.

That is an interesting way to look at it and I appreciate your post.

I will say that if I turn in a test or a paper, one teacher might give me an A and another teacher might give me a C. Both teachers would be convinced of the rightness of the A or the C, but in the end it all comes down to different people doing the grading.

For me, a Judge is just a man (just like the members of the jury are just men) and, as such, he doesn't have any real power to effect what I would consider to be justice.

I do think a lot of people feel like a Judge who gives a wrong or undeserved sentence or grade (in their opinion) to someone who has committed a crime does do an injustice to society. At least, I see that opinion expressed a good deal. It's not my opinion, and so I find your statement that the murderer was "wronged" (ie- received injustice) by the sentence, but the rest of us were not to be really interesting and well worth contemplation.

 

[southcitymom]

BBM

With all due respect, and I do respect your opinion.
If we go with that thought, that we can't really have any justice, then why bother? Why even get all worked up, if there is never gonna be any true justice?

We bother for the "safety" of society. At least that's my opinion. But it's not "justice" to lock people away or kill them in cold blood - it's what we do because we are afraid of their behavior and don't know how else to handle them. Our limitations are very clear.

I believe that real justice is best left to a higher authority - one that, I hope, has more wisdom and a larger view of the landscape of time than we can possibly have in 60-90 years on planet Earth.

 

[cluciano63]

Some states (NY is one, I know) are working on a law that will allow the courts to designate certain offenders in a way that will keep them in prison even past their sentenced term. One case that is being looked at for this is the case of a man in upstate NY who was told he had HIV but continued to have sex and infected a high number of women all in one town. I am not sure how this will work, with civil liberties, etc. but sometimes the punishment truly does not fit the crime and something needs to be done. We can't be releasing violent murderers back into society at the same time we are locking up people for drug charges for 20-30 years. A very broken system.

That said, I don't blame this man at all, and maybe his being vocal about it will keep him from actually doing anything. The ones who usually take justice into their own hands keep very quiet until the act is done.

 

[southcitymom]

This is where it would have been far better for him to get the verdict I think is obvious here. Insane. Keep him locked up in a secure hospital for the criminally insane just like they did Ed Geiss who died of old age inside one. IMO it is obvious he is insane and yes i think he will do it again because it sure isn't the curable sort. To many think that it means getting off but it doesn't. Can mistakes be made, yes. But seems more are made in the prison system like here if you are dealing with someone who is truly insane. I bet he knew what he was doing and it was wrong by our standards, but that doesn't mean he should get 28 yrs and out.

UBM

I agree - one would think that would have been the end result of someone who did something like this. And frankly, I think those places are worse than prison.

It's all very sad - and it points out our general inability to handle people who act insanely. All we can really do is lock them away and forget about them. I don't call that justice, but I sure understand that this boy's dad might be closer to experiencing peace if he thought he would never again have to think about this man as a free agent.

 

[tlcya]

We bother for the "safety" of society. At least that's my opinion. But it's not "justice" to lock people away or kill them in cold blood - it's what we do because we are afraid of their behavior and don't know how else to handle them. Our limitations are very clear.

I believe that real justice is best left to a higher authority - one that, I hope, has more wisdom and a larger view of the landscape of time than we can possibly have in 60-90 years on planet Earth.

I competely agree with the substance of your post, number 28, in its entirety. That said, I also can get a sense of what a parent must feel knowing the perpetrator of such indiginities upon their child will soon walk free. I can honestly understand the inability to envision allowing that person, that threat to humanity, to do so.

 

[southcitymom]

Some states (NY is one, I know) are working on a law that will allow the courts to designate certain offenders in a way that will keep them in prison even past their sentenced term. One case that is being looked at for this is the case of a man in upstate NY who was told he had HIV but continued to have sex and infected a high number of women all in one town. I am not sure how this will work, with civil liberties, etc. but sometimes the punishment truly does not fit the crime and something needs to be done. We can't be releasing violent murderers back into society at the same time we are locking up people for drug charges for 20-30 years. A very broken system.

That said, I don't blame this man at all, and maybe his being vocal about it will keep him from actually doing anything. The ones who usually take justice into their own hands keep very quiet until the act is done.

Agree 100%. We've got the best system going and it still winds up producing such insanity.

 

[southcitymom]

I competely agree with the substance of your post in its entirety. That said, I also can get a sense of what a parent must feel knowing the perpetrator of such indiginities upon their child will soon walk free. I can honestly understand the inability to envision allowing that person, that threat to humanity, to do so.

I hear you. Truly, I don't think there is a parent alive who wouldn't fantasize about what this man is saying he will do. I get it on every level.

I just don't think turning yourself into a torturing murderer is the path to peace - ever - for anyone. And more than anything else, I want this father to have peace.

 

[Kat]

I'm fully support the death penalty. JMHO.

I also give all of my compassion and understanding to the Father of this murdered and horribly violated child.

Do I think that the Father of this child has a right to murder this monster?
NO.

I don't want to see this monster out of prison either. Too late to remedy that because the laws as they stand today put him within his rights as a prisoner to be released.

Here is where the community outrage comes in---if you are in that area do whatever you have to do to get the laws changed. Get them changed. Don't let this happen again.

As for the Monster 1. I really don't think he will last long outside if he is released. He'll be a social pariah he will never have success in any endeavor and he will be so isolated because of his crime that he will IMHO die--alone and broken and shunned much like Mel Ignatow did (MI was for the most part shunned by his own child).

Change the laws. As much as I like to see this monster remain in prison if he is released we can't take the laws into our own hands and kill him. We can talk good game---but I really honestly don't think that anyone here posting on this thread would murder him. If so, that kind of scares me.

Now what were my thoughts when I read the OP article?
1. SOB kill that MF
2. Murder him if he's released
3. Why is that law still on the books?
4. What can be done to change that law? Is there anyway to keep this monster in?
On and on so yes my gut said to string him up but my mind says no.


God bless this man who must carry the burden of this open wound for all of his living days until his last breath. JMHO

 

[DairyGirl]

I would be heartbroken to see the dad do jail or prison time. But a parent has to do, what a parent has to do.

Get 12 like me and he would walk.

 

[Reannan]

Do i think it would be "right" for the father of this child to murder this monster? No - because I am a civilized adult human being. Do I understand the comments and threats of the father? Yes - because I am a parent and would probably feel the exact same way if I were in his shoes. In fact.... I honestly don't guarantee that I would not have paid his bail to get him out of prison a long time ago. This was a horrible, horrible crime. So horrible that LE has never released the journal this creep kept and cherished about his brutal murder and mutilation of this innocent and trusting child. I think maybe that secrecy did more harm than good. I think it is sometimes cathartic to fully grasp and deal with any circumstance. Media reports about the journal and the fact that LE kept it's contents secret really did not prevent people's minds from imagining the worst. I understand why they kept it secret, and I understand their compassion in trying to protect the family from the full reality of what happened to this precious child. I can guarantee you that the father and mother of this child imagined everything possible.... and perhaps more..... of what happened to their baby. The human mind is a vast landscape that is filled with the potential of new discoveries and of the most depraved atrocities. My thoughts are with the father and the rest of the family at this point in history. I pray that the parole board grows a brain and keeps this obviously sick and twisted individual away from other vulnerable members of society.

 

[DairyGirl]

BBM

That's the thing. We humans don't have the power to bring about justice. Ever. Even if this child murderer had been put to death - that doesn't bring about justice in this case - it doesn't even the scales or give the dead child back to his parents.

Sometimes I think our concept of justice is so "eye for an eye" because we are crazy frustrated that we don't have the power to truly right the wrongs that others do.

Vigilante "justice" makes even less sense than the justice we try to find in our court system.

I understand this father's feeling of powerlessness and helplessness. I do not believe he will feel more powerful or in control if he chooses to kill.

To me, this isn't about justice. That ship has sailed. This is about protecting the public. If a dog becomes rabid and agressive and kills another animal or person that dog is put down. To protect the rest of us. That is what this is about.