Death penalty is costly, immoral revenge

Your editorial of Nov. 15 on capital punishment presented a major flaw in our justice system. Justice is the quality of being just, impartial or fair. The results of the cases you cite do not meet that definition. The sentence of death or life in prison without parole was very discriminate and varied depending on the makeup of the jury.

In fact, reading and viewing media accounts of such trials it is obvious that a significant variable is the desire of the community as represented on the jury for revenge (retaliation in kind) or vengeance (to an extreme or excessive degree).

From a pragmatic perspective, the death penalty makes no sense. We have spent more than a million dollars to sentence Brian Dugan to death and will spend more millions on appeals before he is executed. This for a man who is under two sentences of life without parole. Does this make society safer or just give a measure of revenge at a high cost?

From a perspective on civilization, why is the United States the only first-tier civilized country to still have capital punishment? We are ranked with China, Saudi Arabia and Iran as having the most executions in the world.

From a moral perspective, most of the Christian sects, Catholic and Protestant, have made clear statements against the death penalty.

I agree totally with your answer in the editorial. The death penalty is not equal and evenhanded justice. It is a costly and immoral revenge. May our country become more moral and civilized by abandoning an unjust system.

Royce M. Blackwell

Elgin