Death Penalty
To the Editors: Your story on capital punishment [Jan. 24] was one of the best and most balanced pieces that I have read on that emotional and soul-searching issue. After analyzing the arguments on both sides, one can only conclude that the matter is far too complex to be dismissed with simplistic judgments.
John A. Vance Athens, Ga.
In the November elections I voted, with some hesitation, to put the death penalty on the books in Massachusetts. After reading about the atrocities in your article, my second thoughts have passed. There is no doubt in my mind that I made the correct choice.
Betsy Billard Brighton, Mass.
I was working at the U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta the day a 23-year-old female employee was brutally raped and killed by an inmate serving two life sentences for murder and rape. This woman's life would have been spared if the inmate had been executed after his conviction. Capital punishment is the only way to ensure that a person who has killed before will never kill again.
Eduardo Barajas Jr. Lewisburg, Pa.
Henry Brisbon complains about his small prison cell. Someone should remind him of the size of the coffin occupied by the woman he murdered. Janice P. Ellis Hayward, Calif.
The criminal who murdered my sister and orphaned her three children during a housebreaking showed no remorse. He is alive, soon to be free. By contrast, my sister has been slaughtered, and her family is still suffering. Gregory C. Meyer Fort Sam Houston, Texas
Must I teach my children that we have to kill people in order to convince others that killing is wrong? There must be a better way.
Stacy A. Alexander Houston
My loathing of murder is outweighed only by my abhorrence of the authority that claims the legal right to kill. Gerald James Gardner West Redding, Conn.
My daughter, her husband and their baby were stabbed to death recently. The bizarre nature of the multiple stabbings suggests that the murderer was mentally sick. I cannot believe that the execution of the individual responsible for the murder of my family is a solution. Rather than retribution, we need to support research into mental illness and crime. It is the best way to save lives. As a grieving father, I urge that forgiveness replace anger.
Norman Felton Los Angeles
I am a death-row prisoner in Florida. One issue not adequately covered in your otherwise objective article was the inevitability of a mistake. I know of 14 cases in which men who were once on death row have been set free. The Marquis de Lafayette put this issue into perspective when he said, "I shall ask for the abolition of the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me."
Robert A. Sullivan Starke, Fla.
The death penalty would be a deterrent if administered to all murderers. The current practice in the U.S., which has allowed just six executions since 1977, is not a deterrent but a joke.
John Sikos Romeo, Mich.
If the death penalty is ever to be a deterrent to crime, we must remove the aura of romance and dignity that surrounds it. Perhaps if executions were shown on TV, some people would think twice before putting themselves in a position to receive the same treatment.