After reading the editorial in The State News on Monday morning, I could not believe what I was reading ("Stop it" SN 2/23). It literally made me sick to my stomach. The editorial stated, "Capital punishment must not exist for the satisfaction of the bereaved," and "Death as closure to death - it doesn't make sense."
The death penalty has been warranted many times and would have made sense in certain cases. Do you remember the Livonia murder of a jeweler and his entire family? Do you remember the countless police officers murdered on the job? Do you remember the sniper killings in Virginia and Washington, D.C.? If that had happened here in our state, those two murderers would be in Jackson's prison, getting food, television, recreation and shelter, not to mention conjugal visits and a chance to escape to freedom every day.
Not every crime deserves the death penalty. The death penalty would be used only with gut-wrenching crimes that affect all Michiganians' thoughts and fears. The penalty would be used only with no doubt and compelling evidence. With all of the advanced DNA testing out, there is little chance of putting someone innocent to death. If the person is innocent, they would be proven innocent by undeniable scientific proof.
The death penalty is not meant to deter criminals. It is a penalty. Prisons obviously do not deter people from committing crime. Otherwise, people would stop and say "Maybe I should not kill those two cops; I could go to jail."
The death penalty is not cruel. Cruel is what they do in the Middle East when they stone for adultery or give a public beheading to a man for stealing a loaf of bread. In the United States, the death penalty would be a lot less painful than the actual crime against the victim. A lethal injection is given, and within five minutes, the person is dead.
If this initiative is put on the ballot, I will vote "Yes" for it, and I encourage all hard-working, crime-hating, people-loving citizens to vote "Yes" on it.
David Lepsetz
telecommunication, information studies and media sophomore
