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Don’t call for snipers’ deaths in Maryland simply for revenge

It seems Brendan Cavalier is confident that he knows just how to exercise use of the deal penalty in ‘Snipers should get death penalty’ (Nov. 4, pg. 3). He states, ‘Maryland’s fanciful, idealistic belief that all people deserve to live, regardless of their terrible crimes, has been brought into question.’ I don’t think this horrible event brought anything into question for the many people who oppose the death penalty or the industrialized nations that have banned the death penalty.

Cavalier says, ‘it is the responsibility of our government to put them to death.’ Executing John Lee Malvo, age 17, would continue to group our government with those of Iran, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (the only countries who execute child offenders). This is against many international treaties and commonly accepted international law. Since 1990, the U.S. has accounted for more than half of all child executions.

It seems Cavalier’s logic is generally reactionary, calling for the death of these severely troubled men based simply on the horror of their actions. Some feel that the justice system is not there to punish people in an eye-for-an-eye fashion, but to set up a sentencing standard that will thwart other people from committing crimes. There is no evidence that the death penalty lowers the murder rate. States without the death penalty actually have markedly lower murder rates, but this is not conclusive evidence against any deterrent effect of the death penalty. People committing murder do not generally care if the death penalty is a possible sentence, as John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo showed us.

So we have the option of killing John Muhammad, a man with a rough history who served for our country, and John Lee Malvo, a 17-year-old boy who was clearly impressionable and influenced. If killing them will not save other people’s lives then it seems there is no way to justify taking their lives.

Society clearly affects the crime rate, and America’s murder rate is several times that of European nations. Perhaps we should look upon the sniper’s horrific crimes with a sense of guilt and sentence them (as all criminals) with the intent of protecting society and thwarting future crimes, rather than attempting to exact revenge for their crimes. If Brendan Cavalier wants to save lives he may better spend his time trying to improve society, rather than calling for death.

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