For porn mogul Larry Flynt, the answer is no. White supremacist shooter Joseph Paul Franklin, age 63, tried to assassinate Flynt and is scheduled for execution in Missouri on Nov. 20, 2013. After his fifth murder, he went to prison and has been sitting on death row for 15 years.
Flynt recently said, “I would love an hour in a room with him and a pair of wire cutters and pliers, so I could inflict the same damage on him that he inflicted on me. But, I do not want to kill him, nor do I want to see him die.” Flynt went on to say capital punishment doesn’t work and gave an example of crowds in 18th century England getting their pockets picked while they gawked at public hangings of pickpockets.
“If you’re ever trying to convince somebody of why the death penalty is not a deterrent,” said Flynt, “that’s a good example.” Like many people against capital punishment, Flynt believes that a needle injection is too easy. A much more severe punishment is a life spent locked up in a 3-by-6-foot cell.
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Flynt has been wheelchair-bound since the attempted murder in 1978, which damaged his spinal cord. He has lived with excruciating pain for years and became addicted to painkillers. After multiple surgeries, the affected nerves were finally deadened. Sadly, he later suffered a stroke from an overdose of pain meds. It left him with slurred speech — but he is still quite vocal.
Flynt’s net worth is now $400 million, but the man came from very humble beginnings and a troubled home life. For a couple of years, Flynt dabbled in a few failed entrepreneurial attempts. Then in 1968, at the age of 26, he opened his first Hustler Club, which featured naked, dancing hostesses. After his titillating help earned him big bucks, he opened many more clubs. In July 1974, Flynt published the first issue of the hugely successful porn magazine Hustler.
Franklin was never tried for the attempted murder of Flynt. He confessed and said he tried to assassinate Flynt because Hustler magazine offended him when they printed a photo spread of a black man with a white woman.
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Flynt remains an interesting character. He has been in many highly publicized legal fights over freedom of speech. During the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, Flynt offered $1 million for evidence of Republican politicians’ sex scandals. More recently, in September 2012, Flynt offered a $1 million reward for information on Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns and has referred to himself as “a smut peddler who cares.”
Now, as Flynt sits in his ($80,000 gold-plated) wheelchair, he continues to speak his mind, including how much money it costs taxpayers when a criminal is sentenced to execution.
To learn more about Flynt’s interesting life, read his autobiography, “.” There is also the 1996 movie based on his life, “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” starring Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth a rental.
