THE LAW: Compassion

Two old men—Judge Clyde I. Webster, 75, who held court from his sickbed, and Mercy Killer William R. Jones, 62, who sat at his side to be sentenced—wept with compassion for each other in Detroit one day last week. The judge’s tears came as he considered the anguish which led Jones to electrocute his wife, Barbara, a sufferer from incurable diabetes, who had lost both legs and suffered agonizing pain. Jones wept as the judge explained that he could not condone the killing but could only “show you every consideration.” “I want to thank you,” said Jones, after getting a one-to-five-year sentence, “but I can’t talk.”