About Capital Punishment… 

I’ve always been opposed to capital punishment. My logic was simple. If I believed murder was evil, how could I justify punishing murderers by murdering them?

Also, there was the question of wrongful conviction. Since DNA became a reliable forensic tool, there have been reports of hundreds of people sentenced to death that were later exonerated.

But I have modified my view on this in recent years. I’ve been reading about (and watching documentaries on the subject of) serial killers and mass murderers. And if there is one thing I’ve concluded about them, it’s that, however intelligent or rational they seem, at some level they are all insane. (How can they not be?)

Of course, this begs the question: If they are insane, isn’t it doubly wrong to convict them?

No. I don’t think sanity should be considered in cases of mass and serial murders. The level of damage these people do – not just to their victims, but to the families and friends of their victims – needs to be recognized and addressed. Everyone today is concerned with social justice. If social justice has any meaning at all, it means that sometimes we must punish people for the damage they do to society.

In Florida, thanks to the “work” of his defense team, the monster that killed all those people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was given life in prison, instead of the death penalty. I’ve followed the trail, and I’ve listened to the statements of the family members of those killed by this guy, and that research left me feeling that this guy should be put to death.

If you have never watched any of the pre-sentencing presentations by family members, this one, coming from the last of the fathers to speak, should give you an idea of why I feel as I do. Click here.