Editor,
The issue of the death penalty has been in the news again:
- Studies after studies have shown that the cost of the long appeal process in a capital punishment case far surpasses the expense of incarceration for life with an additional $90,000 a year per death row prisoner.
- Studies in this country as well as in other countries that have, or have had, the death penalty show that the threat of being executed for a capital crime is no deterrence.
- The death penalty is disproportionately applied to poor people, migrant workers, as well as racial, ethnic, and unpopular minorities.
- Does the Christian Commandment “thou shall not kill” have any meaning at all?
- Is the death penalty really a proper punishment rather than being locked away for life without the possibility of parole?
- Hundreds of people have been executed in the USA that were later found not guilty. Who would want to be in that predicament?
Peter Weisbrod, Laguna Beach
