James Alex Fields, the white supremacist who killed an anti-racist protestor during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia has begged the judge for mercy in his sentencing. The 22-year-old’s attorneys submitted a sentencing memo in court requesting a sentence shorter than life in prison. The memo claimed Fields should not be given a life sentence due to his age, a traumatic childhood, and a history of mental illness, according to the Associated Press (AP).“James did not come to Charlottesville with any plan to commit an act of violence. In the space of only a few minutes, caught in circumstances he did not intend to create, he acted in...
This makes me sick. He should be in for life. They didn’t listen to the Central Park Five (the Exonerated Five) while they were begging to be listened to about their innocence. I am so sick of white privilege. And, I am white.
Fields very likely will be sentenced to life in prison. His lawyers have to submit something to try to help him out. But anyone in favor of criminal justice reform should also be wary of long mandatory sentences and the idea that people cannot change over time.
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:6-8