But he was such a nice, quiet boy...

So the world has been struck dumb (and numb) by the senseless, tragic events that took place in a darkened Colorado movie theatre at a midnight screening of Dark Knight Rises. 90 seconds of carnage, mayhem and utter, utter terror.  So many dead. Even more injured.

A booby-trapped apartment, causing 5 entire buildings to be evacuated.

All by a man with bizarrely dyed red/orange hair dressed in military garb calling himself 'The Joker'.

All evidence points towards him pre-meditating and planning this horrifying event to the nth degree for MONTHS.

Reading of him sitting there looking dazed and confused in the courtroom left me sickened. This man was a PHD student studying NEUROSCIENCE FFS.

As Jordan Ghawi, who tragically lost his sister in the massacre said, he is a both a coward and genius.  "I don't believe for a second that he's sitting there with his wide eyes and pretending to be incoherent," Ghawi said. "He knows what he's doing."

Now the courts are contemplating whether or not to go for the death penalty.

Um...it's a question?

Now I do NOT believe in the death penalty, not one bit. I don't believe that anyone has the right to decide whether someone should live or die. Whatever the magnitude of your crimes, an eye for an eye is just not my philosophy. And at the end of the day we live in a society where such a fate can often turn the criminal into a martyr or cult hero which certainly is the last thing that we should want. I know some people vigorously disagree with me but I really think that making a person live with the crimes they've committed is far more effective punishment than putting them to death.

However, it is the 'American way'. Just like the Fifth Amendment, freedom of speech and right to bear arms (hmm), the American legal system is pretty much synonomous with the death penalty. Convicted felons of lesser crimes have certainly received the death penalty.

So it is confusing when, as America's WORST serial killer in their long, bloodthirsty history (I hope he's proud), that there is even some question about whether or not the legal system should push for the death penalty.

Apparently it's not 'open and shut'....um what?

This is what I hate about the justice system (not just the one in the US). Due to process and loopholes and all sorts of legal trickery, there's certainly no justice for all.

I just hope that the families of the victims can achieve some kind of peace, and that those survivors of this tragedy can sleep at night without suffering night terrors for the rest of their days.

xx