The USA Still Has the Death Penalty for Murder --"the harshest penalty that a just society can impose"

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a per curiam [unanimous] decision on Wednesday upholding the death sentence for Roof, saying that no legal record "can capture the full horror of what Roof did".

The panel rejected various claims by Roof in his appeal that errors had been made when the court concluded that he was competent to stand trial for the nine murders.

“Roof murdered African Americans at their church, during their Bible-study and worship. They had welcomed him. He slaughtered them. He did so with the express intent of terrorizing not just his immediate victims at the historically important Mother Emanuel Church, but as many similar people as would hear of the mass murder,” concluded the panel.

“No cold record or careful parsing of statutes and precedents can capture the full horror of what Roof did. His crimes qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose.”

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