Man Sentenced to Death Possibly Because He’s Gay And The Justice’s Could Care Less

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/opinion/charles-rhines-gay-jury-death-row.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FHomosexuality&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

Overview: Charles Rhines, a man that is a part of the LGBTQ community was sentenced to death row because of the fact that he’s gay. When sent to trial because of a crime he had committed all the jury mentioned was the fact that he’s gay and when talking about it they made their feelings of disgust towards that apparent. When considering the options of what to do with Mr. Rhines the jury decided that he didn’t deserve to have the option of serving life in prison without parole because they thought that he would enjoy his punishment too much, being that he would be in an all-male prison.

Opinion: I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that the jury constantly kept bringing up that Charles Rhines was gay during his trial, his sexual preferences had nothing to do with his crime. I also think that it’s awful that the jury decided not to give him life in prison without parole because they felt that he would enjoy it too much because of the fact that he’s gay, so they opted for the giving him a death sentence instead.

Questions: How does this article make you feel? Does Rhines deserve death row? What do you think should be done to help Mr. Rhines have a fair trial? Should the people involved in handling the court case be punished?