RFK wife Ethel Kennedy says assassin shouldn't be released

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BOSTON (AP) — The wife of the late Robert F. Kennedy’s says assassin Sirhan Sirhan should not be released from prison, further roiling a family divide over whether the man convicted of killing her husband in California in 1968 should be freed on parole.

In a brief statement released on Twitter by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said bluntly Tuesday: “He should not be paroled.”

“Bobby believed we should work to ‘tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of the world,’” Kennedy, 93, wrote.

“He wanted to end the war in Vietnam and bring people together to build a better, stronger country. More than anything, he wanted to be a good father and loving husband,” she wrote, adding: “Our family and our country suffered an unspeakable loss due to the inhumanity of one man. We believe in the gentleness that spared his life, but in taming his act of violence, he should not have the opportunity to terrorize again.”



FILE— In this June 5, 2018 file photograph, Ethel Kennedy, widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign, watches a video about her late husband during the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights awards ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington. In a brief statement released on Twitter by her daughter, lawyer and activist Kerry Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy said bluntly Tuesday Sept. 7, 2021 that her husband's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, "should not be paroled." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-ethel-kennedy-sirhan-sirhan-kerry-kennedy-e46c8714f35466e18dd6cf548093f3ff

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I agree.

[Casady1]

1. Ethel is right

This was not simply a murder this was to end a political movement and is different than normal.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Hopefully that's the clincher for Gov. Newsom

If he needed one.

K&R

[hlthe2b]

3. She was there.. I'll take her opinion (joined by the rest of the family) over RFK JR

Not to mention that this was a political murder. So, yes, the rest of us were victims as well.

[Paladin]

7. Ethel Kennedy vs. RFK Jr.? Ethel, by a mile. (nt)

[polmaven]

4. I TOTALLY agree with her!

First degree murderers should spend the rest of their lives in prison!

[emmaverybo]

31. Here Hear!

[hamsterjill]

5. I can't imagine anyone whose opinion should matter more.

n/t

[twodogsbarking]

6. That says it. Thank you Ethel.

[Jon King]

8. Wrong, we can not be selective with parole.

If a 77 year old who has served over 50 years and has a clean prison record is eligible for parole, then he should be. If not, he should not be.

Whether he killed a homeless women with no family or a famous person should have zero bearing. The problem with justice in this country is how arbitrary it is.

[Aristus]

9. Sirhan Sirhan, just before opening fire: "Let's see; I can start shooting and risk the arbitrary

nature of the American justice system, or I can pocket my pistol, walk away, not do this horrible thing, and live out my life in freedom."

He made a stupid choice, and changed the world for the worse with it. I don't thinking drawing his last breath from behind bars is too much to ask for such horrible decision-making ability.

[Jarqui]

20. He hurt a lot of people - way more than the Kennedy family

How is anyone ever safe from one who reasons like that?

I hope he never sees the light of day outside of a prison.

[emmaverybo]

32. This.

[Jetheels]

12. If what you say is true then why do they conduct parole hearings?

[Jose Garcia]

21. Why have a parole board and Gubernatorial involvement if

there isn't going to be any selectivity?

[cstanleytech]

23. Clean prison record is only part of what can make or break the possibility of parole and

they factor in many things including the wishes of the victims and or their family members.

[ripcord]

29. This is one of the reasons we are having such a problem abolishing the death penalty

There really isn't life in prison anymore, it has become stay in prison until we feel sorry for you.

[LenaBaby61]

10. I didn't think she would want that murderer released. Gavin, do your duty.

KEEP that murderer in JAIL to rot.

[Tetrachloride]

11. The Shawshank Redemption

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirhan_Sirhan

Without hope of redemption, it would be chaos in the correctional institutions.

I know numerous friends working as correctional officers and high administration. One guard told me there is not enough medical staff and that he was the pharmacist for some inmates. He worried that he would accidentally kill an inmate.

their job is keeping prisoners, visitors and other guards alive. Prisoners without hope are the antithesis of The Shawshank Redemption

A report by the parole board would be welcome as evidence that can be debated.

[Liberty Belle]

13. Ethel is 93; Sirhan should not be released at least during her lifetime.

I strongly disagree with those who say all killers should be treated the same and paroled if they show (or feign) enough regret.

We already have extra penalties based on intent, special circumstances, particularly sadistic crimes, terrorism, murder for hire, and more.

This man killed the hopes of a generation of Americans and that should certainly matter. I would add political assassinations into special circumstances as the impact is so broad -- every bit as traumatizing for the public as say, someone who opens fire in a theater or school. His victims in a sense are more than the man he killed.

[marble falls]

18. Why does she deserve a "right" not written into the law, that doesn't apply to anyone else?????

[left-of-center2012]

14. Impartial minds should make the decision

Not weighed down by emotion.

In my humble opinion.

[Harker]

15. Are some lives more valuable or important than others?

Having a simple code of justice might help.

[marble falls]

17. That's the part that gets me, too. Certain idividuals are "more valuable" than others, when ...

... the concept is we are all equal under the law.

[Harker]

27. Yes. The whole idea of equality falls apart under the heavy weight

of exceptions being made.

I can hear a famous line on the subject from Orwell rattling around in my mind.

[marble falls]

35. Realizing that is how I convinced myself all capitol punishment is wrong.

[BradAllison]

19. Well, it pretty much changed the history of the United States n/m

[Harker]

26. It certainly did.

I was heartbroken.

[Jose Garcia]

22. Yes

[Harker]

28. You? Me? My cousin Pam? n/t

[marble falls]

16. Which, of course, doesn't mean he shouldn't be released. He's been in long enough.

[2Gingersnaps]

24. There is definitely an intellectual argument for "rehabilitation."

But if anyone thinks that there is "equal justice under the law" or ever has been in this country, that is naïve at best. If I remember correctly, he was not prosecuted as a political murderer, but he was given a death penalty that was rescinded. I wonder what the justification for that was, because we were as divided then as we are now, and we definitely went in the wrong direction then. I would argue that Bobby Kennedy's death lead to where we are now.

Parole hearing after parole hearing he accepted no responsibility for his crime. Reportedly, he blamed Kennedy's support for Israel in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He also blames heaving drinking at the Hotel that night.

On a human level, how does a 77 year old live and support himself? Does he sell his infamy? To what, if any degree, was he ever "rehabilitated?" Does he get deported?

[Martin68]

25. I don't have an opinion on sirhan x 2's release, but I don't think a relative of his victim should

have the final word in the decision. They should follow the law and the guidelines.

[ripcord]

30. California made is mistake

When the death penalty was abolished in 1972 all those people on death row should have had their sentences changed to life without the possibility of parole. It is no wonder we can't abolish the death penalty, there really is no life in prison anymore.

[JohnnyRingo]

33. I don't believe in capital punishment....

...so if a cold blooded murderer has sit sit his life behind bars, I lose sympathy.
Was Manson ever considered? No.

[ripcord]

34. Manson was repeatedly denied parole

But he was eligible and was considered.