DEATH PENALTY: It really solves nothing

The state of Idaho has set June 12 as the execution date of Richard Leavitt. This will be the second execution within a year here in Idaho.

I have spent a lot of time determining just what I felt about the death penalty. I have not always been against it. I am now firmly against the death penalty for the following reasons:

I do not think that fear of death enters into the equation when an individual commits a violent act; therefore I do not believe that it will stop violent crime.

Many individuals feel that this would help victim’s relatives with closure. I have no family members who have been murdered, although I was an early victim of one individual, currently on death row in Idaho. Fortunately he had not escalated to the violent act that landed him on death row, when he attacked me. When and if his execution date is set, I will be writing a letter just like this, hoping to stop the execution.

Since 1989, 2,000 wrongful convictions have been uncovered, one of those in Texas where the inmate had already been executed.

For me the bottom line is if my neighbor steals from me, I do not have the right to steal from him, because stealing is against all my principles. So is killing, and that is what we do when we execute an individual.

I become just as horrified about violent acts as anyone; I hate them and all the pain they cause. I think about the terror that the victim went through. I simply don’t think that “an eye for an eye” solves anything. That may have worked when civilization was new. I don’t believe it is the answer today. I wish I knew what the answer was; I don’t, but I do believe strongly that the death penalty is not the answer to anything.

SUE COON

Chairman, Idaho CURE

Coeur d’Alene