Avowed white supremacist sentenced to life in prison for hate crimes in Charlottesville attack.

[brooklynite]

Source: USA Today

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — James Fields Jr., an avowed white supremacist who rammed his car into counter-protesters of a “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others, was sentenced to life in prison Friday on hate crime charges.

Fields, from Ohio, apologized before the judge handed down his sentence. As a part of a deal with federal prosecutors, the death penalty was taken off the table.

He faces sentencing next month on separate state murder charges.

The 22-year-old Fields, who adorned text messages with photos of Adolf Hitler, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to face sentencing for a guilty plea he made at the end of March to 29 federal hate crimes.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/06/28/james-fields-jr-charlottesville-sentencing-heather-heyer-unite-the-right/1587233001/

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Some of his cellmates will no doubt be very fine people...

[a kennedy]

1. Good......and good riddance to white trash garbage.......

couldn't have happened to a better guy.

[RockRaven]

2. Good riddance.

I hope he never again harms those around him, but I will not hold my breath.

[underpants]

3. Good.

That absolutely rocked C’ville. One of the Council members spoke at a convention I was at recently. She said every single thing they do has some a period where they consider how this action could affect/prevent that whole mess from happening again.

[titanicdave]

4. ....Fantastic....

....I hope the bastard rots in hell.......

[Initech]

5. Threw his life away over hate propaganda. Good riddance!

[Talitha]

6. I hope he lives to be 122, with no chance for parole.

A century in the slammer still won't be harsh enough of a sentence for what he did.

[Dave Starsky]

20. Maybe he'll become a hardcore advocate for racial understanding.

Maybe he'll become a vocal champion of how race is used by the powers-that-be to keep us all ignorant and fighting with each other.

Maybe he'll write books and give lectures to other prisoners about how he was used as a tool. He'll talk about how we was the perfect victim (young, male, white, relatively uneducated and economically disadvantaged), how he bought into right-wing bullshit, to the point where he was driven (literally) to murder.

Maybe he will lead support groups in prison for other people who have been victimised in the very same way.

Maybe, after 40 years in jail, he will be granted parole, and he can go around the nation giving lectures and offering wisdom about racial understanding to others.

On second thought, LOL! 😂 You and I both know none of that will ever happen.

[obamanut2012]

24. He is absolutely alraedy a member of the AB or similar

And, will continue to be until the day he dies. He is their hero, and they will protect their fellow hater.

[displacedtexan]

28. He'll find Jesus and see the light pretty soon.

I have no doubt that this moron will try to be a tough guy until the first harass scares the shit out of him. Soon after, he'll try to claim he's seeking peace on earth to all people. Yeah. Right. Sure. Only a Pure D coward would use a vehicle to murder innocents.

[ellie]

7. Awwwww, big fat bummer!

Rot in jail Nazi.

[Aristus]

8. He apologized. Well, that will bring Heather Heyer back, won't it? Guys?

Rot in jail, shitheap. You know where you can shove your apology...

[empedocles]

9. Wheels of Justice . . . . . . keep turning

[lark]

10. Justice is a sweet thing.

So glad it was served with this sentence.

[Dopers_Greed]

11. The Neo-nazi-in-Chief will probably pardon him

[Rural_Progressive]

13. If I'm not mistaken murder is a state crime

even if trump, and he never would, were to pardon the federal conviction the young man would immediately be brought up on state murder charges if that hasn't happened already.

[cstanleytech]

26. Probably only if SCOTUS does not toss the verdict out which given the Conservative justices

recent vote in support of gerrymandering is entirely plausible.

[Rural_Progressive]

12. As much as this young man deserves this sentence

he simply got taken in by the vileness these groups spew and then he acted out.

I want the people who spew this vileness locked away, then we will truly see justice.

[not fooled]

14. Yes.

Too bad the ultimate beneficiaries if not instigators of the hate--the Mercers and Kochs of the world--will bear no burden.

[The Mouth]

16. Disagree

There is never an excuse for believing such vileness.

EVERY person is responsible for what they say, believe and do, unless conserved.

[Progressive Jones]

21. Stupidity and cowardice are no excuse. nt

[obamanut2012]

25. No, he is a hater and a sociopath

He beat his disabled mother, too.

Why do so many people, even on here, excuse these young white haters as people without agency? He is a scumbag, and was before he killed Heather.

[cstanleytech]

15. Correct me if I am wrong but since its federal in this case a life sentence means exactly that

as they do not have parole for federal crimes, correct?

[csziggy]

29. I don't know about federal parole, but Dolt45 could pardon him

On the other hand (from the article linked in the OP):

In December, Fields was convicted of murder in state court; those charges are separate from the federal charges he was being sentenced for on Friday. A sentencing hearing on the state charges is set for July 15. A jury has recommended a sentence of life, plus 419 years.

Fields cannot be pardoned by Dolt45 for the state conviction. I think it is safe to say that he will never be a free man again.

[pecosbob]

30. Federal prisoners are released on parole through the accumulation of 'good time'

In the seventies and eighties, federal prisoners were able to receive as much as two-thirds sentence reduction through good time. Last that I heard it had been reduced to fifteen percent of the sentence....you have to complete eight-five percent of your sentence before release...period. I don't believe federal judges have the ability to determine whether parole will or will not be granted...only a parole board can deny parole to a federal prisoner. As such there is no federal 'life without parole'...that's a state thing.

[cstanleytech]

31. How does "good time" factor in for a life sentence though?

[pecosbob]

32. Not really sure...BOP Policy guidelines mandate fifty-four days good time per year

In defacto life imprisonment (stacked sentences) this good time is still applied, even though moot. Federal life sentences are pretty rare it seems and there's not a lot of material available. At any rate, while the Sentencing Commission and the Parole Commission are two separate entities one would have to assume that some policy was implemented for these cases.

[ffr]

17. He can spend his days thinking of how he could bring back Heather Heyer

And all the good she brought to the world around her.

[Scalded Nun]

18. The apology was just to get a break

He is only sorry because we was held to account...just like all the other right-wingers when they get nailed.

[Bengus81]

19. 22 years old,glad they took the death penality off..........

That Trump loving PUKE can set there day after day after day and think about it until his fucking dies.

[Buzz cook]

22. We live in a society that creates such men.

True justice will not be served till that is no longer the case.

[Blue_Tires]

23. Good riddance!

At least now Heather Heyer has justice...

[sinkingfeeling]

27. Great news.