Letter to the editor: 'Prisoners' have rights

Regarding the article “Tempers flare briefly on 8th day of jury selection in Wilkinsburg mass shooting case” (Jan. 15, TribLIVE): I am disgusted by the murderous acts that Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas are charged with committing. Nobody should be exposed to the experience that the victims suffered and that the survivors are still going through, and I send my thoughts and prayers to all of them.

Nevertheless, I believe what Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini said about the defendents is concerning, both from a legal and moral perspective. After Shelton’s attorney said that a sheriff’s deputy had admonished her for allowing him to consume a Tic Tic mint, Pellegrini suggested the bigger problem was that the attorneys for Thomas had given him a cookie — because “they’re prisoners.” While it’s true they are being held in Allegheny County Jail, the trial has not started; they were indicted but are not convicted.

Sure, the plaintiffs are most likely going to face the death penalty. But who’s to refuse them their rights, as human beings, before they are convicted? It seems like more and more Americans are forgetting or purposely avoiding the due process clause presented by the Fifth and 14th Amendments.

Is an America that doesn’t abide by the Constitution an America that we want for our children? I don’t know; I may not even have children. All I know is, if Shelton and Thomas are proved guilty, then there is a delicious meal, better than a mint or a cookie, as well as a chair and around 2,500 volts, waiting for them at the Rockview state prison.

Sullivan Kang

Shadyside

The writer is a student in the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.