Mo. executes man in 1991 slaying of girl

[udbcrzy2]

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BONNE TERRE, Mo. -- Martin Link was put to death early today for the 1991 killing of 11-year-old Elissa Self-Braun of St. Louis.

Link died by injection after midnight at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
It was the first execution in Missouri since May 2009 and just the second since 2006.

Link's fate was sealed when Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday denied clemency and the courts on Tuesday refused to halt the execution.

Elissa's parents Don Self and Pamela Braun were among the witnesses at Link's execution.
"Justice was a long time coming," Self said afterward.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_2407625e-b6a3-54c7-af79-c1a97abae370.html

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Elissa would have been 31-years-old today if she had not been murdered.
After 20-years it took a Democratic Governor to finally get justice for Elissa and her family.

Supreme Court of Missouri Opinion
SC78466: State of Missouri, Respondent, v. Martin Link, Appellant
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=26252

[Botany]

1. Good Cops in this case

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_fcb05ab5-596a-59d3-9f49-3ecf8c0393eb.html

[Bragi]

2. You mean by "justice" that state murder=justice?

Many would disagree, as do I.

State murder degrades the people in whose name it is ostensibly done.

[MicaelS]

3. Then let the people of that state outlaw it...

Through the legislative process.

[Bragi]

4. I'm all for that /nt

[Bill McBlueState]

5. a US Supreme Court decision declaring it unconstitutional

would be much more efficient. Probably not going to happen with this court, though.

[MicaelS]

6. No...

It isn't going to happen. But I think it should be left up to the states.

[greiner3]

7. Let me see;

So that would mean the US would still have slavery, unfair schools-although that's still debatable...-, unfair housing, a lot of discrimination and others. Come on, the US Constitution trumps so many state laws.

'States Rights' be damned.

[MicaelS]

8. The point is that those things have been declared unconstitutional....

The DP hasn't. And I'm not talking about all instances, just on this issue. Shame might work whereas simply there might be a great deal of resistance from judges simply "outlawing" it.

"What?? You live in one of the few states in the US that still executes people? What is wrong with you people?"

[nalnn]

9. I am not degraded by this.

He got off easy.