Wake up on death penalty

The Editorial Board concluded, “We must either be willingto temper out conscience on the reality of the death penalty orabolish the practice if we cannot stomach it.” (“Deathpenalty: Supreme Court decision regarding minors no simpletask,” The Daily Campus 1/29/04).

There is another option, which is to examine the death penaltysystem, make adjustments as deemed appropriate and agree thatexecution is the just and appropriate punishment for some heinouscrimes.

The Ed Board repeatedly stated that we must not push the deathpenalty out of the public eye. It’s hard to fathom why theyneeded to say this. Both through legal review and public discourse,the death penalty is the most studied and talked about legalsanction in the United States.

Then, the Ed Board said that it couldn’t take up the heavyquestions presented by death penalty cases.

Wake up. That is what editorial comment is supposed to do. Ifyou are too wimpy, then they should put people in who can tackletough questions.

See confrontation and avoidance, above.

Dudley Sharp

Houston, Texas