[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., KAN., OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 30


NORTH CAROLINA:

Another view on closure in murder cases



Family Members of Murder Victims. That's a group you don't want to join, and 
once you are initiated, you can never leave.

I've been a member since May 1975 when my sister, Betsy Parks Rosenberg, was 
beaten to death just a block from N.C. State University in Raleigh. She left 
the library at midnight after studying for finals and was found next to her car 
in the morning. Betsy was only 24 years old, married, working part-time and 
going to college part-time to complete her accounting degree.

Last week, I read John Boyle's article "Executions in limbo, families wait for 
justice." Boyle featured George Lane, whose son, Mark, was murdered in 
Asheville in 1991. He said Mr. Lane is waiting for the execution of his son's 
killer to bring him some solace or closure.

This reminded me that I consider myself to be one of the fortunate members of 
our group. I'm fortunate because the man convicted of killing my sister wasn't 
sentenced to death. My family has been spared the seemingly endless appeals and 
delays that are part of our broken death penalty system. When his life sentence 
was pronounced, I realized any healing I might experience depended more on what 
I did than on what happened to him.

I also feel fortunate that we weren't promised by the prosecutor and the 
judicial system that we and Betsy would receive "justice" through the death of 
another human being.

About 20 years ago, I heard a corrections official speaking about the 
procedures followed on the day of an execution. I tried to imagine being a 
family member of the condemned person. I imagined fear, anger, grief and 
powerlessness, the same overwhelming emotions I felt when Betsy was killed.

I realized I could not support the death penalty, not only because it is wrong 
to kill a person, but also because of the pain imposed on the family of the 
condemned. How can we impose that cruel and unusual punishment on innocent 
family members?

The more I learned about the death penalty, the more reasons I found to oppose 
it: increased cost to taxpayers for capital trials and appeals, the possibility 
of executing an innocent person, racial bias in selecting jurors and 
sentencing, geographic inconsistencies, the impact on our society when we 
execute our own citizens...

The death penalty also divides members of our group, those who support the 
death penalty and those who don't. I'd like to reach out to Mr. Lane, because 
family members can often offer the most empathic support for one another. But 
I'm afraid he wouldn't want to hear from me. Sadly, the divisive death penalty 
issue overshadows all that Mr. Lane and I have in common.

Let's abandon the death penalty and find a way to hold murderers accountable, 
keep society safe, avoid decades of appeals and use those resources for 
services for family members of the victims.

(source: Jean Parks is a psychologist who works in private practice in the 
Asheville area. She is a board member of Murder Victims' Families for 
Reconciliation.

KANSAS:

Letter: Opposed to capital punishment



Newton, Kan.

I am responding to Kent Bush's article on capital punishment in the Kansan on 
Friday, the 23rd. I am against the death penalty for another reason and that is 
the victims. How do you measure the cost the victims pay?

When someone you love is ripped out of your life through violence, there are 
MANY emotions and feelings to deal with. A first response might be, "Let's get 
rid of the monster who did this!"

It takes a long time to heal the jagged edges of such a loss and the scars 
remain forever.

If you keep re-opening a major wound it will never heal. That is what happens 
to victims when there is a death penalty. It is hard to heal when you are not 
able to leave the scene of the crime due to repeated court hearings.

Court hearings take you back to the crime. It's like pouring salt into an open 
wound. In my readings I find that victims wait for the death of the offender 
and find that death did not bring the relief they were waiting for.

How do I know this? My youngest son was murdered in 1989. Thank goodness the 
death penalty was not an option. I went for counseling and worked to learn how 
to live a new normal life. That took several years.

Our family had 18 years to heal and we thought we had. When the first parole 
hearing happened 18 years later, we were shocked because we found ourselves 
back at the time of the murder.

We again dealt with pain, hurt and raw emotions. It was like a relapse. We had 
to work at healing again.

Let's spare victims additional pain by doing away with the death penalty with 
its false hope plus so many court hearings. Life time in prison with no 
possibility of ever getting out lets victims forget the offender. It gives them 
space to work at healing without interference by the court system.

Wilma Loganbill, Hesston.

(source: Letter to the Editor, The Kansan)








OKLAHOMA:

Just Pathetic: Death Row Killers Afraid Of A Little Shot----It is my great hope 
that the Supremes will NOT get sidetracked in those arguments and forget why 
these clowns are where they are to begin with.



The Supreme Court, which we hire to call the ultimate balls and strikes in our 
legal system, has decided to hear an appeal from three Oklahoma death row 
inmates whose lawyers think that the 3 drug cocktail which will be used to kill 
them on a gurney in a clean, well lit room is too painful and would constitute 
cruel and unusual punishment.

Below are the 3 inmates and the reason each one finds themselves in the 
predicament they are in:

Justin Sneed, a young contract handyman who worked and lived at the Best Budget 
Inn that Richard E. Glossip managed in Oklahoma City, confessed to beating 
motel owner Barry Van Treese to death with a baseball bat on Jan. 7, 1997. 
Prosecutors said Glossip feared losing his job and recruited Sneed to kill his 
boss. Sneed would later testify that Glossip promised him $10,000 to commit the 
crime. Both men were convicted of 1st-degree murder. In exchange for his 
testimony, Sneed received a life sentence without parole; Glossip received a 
death sentence.

John M. Grant was serving a 35-year term for a 1980 robbery conviction when he 
stabbed cafeteria worker Gay Carter 16 times with a homemade knife after 
dragging her into a small closet. He pulled her into a mop closet, covered her 
mouth, and stabbed her several times in the chest, according to court records. 
She had 16 stab wounds, 1 of which punctured her aorta, according to court 
records.

On December 20, 2002, Benjamin R. Cole was playing video games. He was 
interrupted by the crying of his 9-month-old daughter Brianna. He went to her 
crib and bent her legs backward and then flipped her over. This broke her spine 
and ruptured her aorta. He went back to playing video games, but eventually 
checked on Brianna, found her unresponsive, and called for emergency 
assistance. Cole had a conviction for abusing his infant son in California in 
1987.

So, to review: hired death by baseball bat, homemade shiv, and physically 
snapping the spine of a 9 month old baby girl.

And these guys are worried about a little old shot in the arm?

They are lucky we don't take them out and hang them from the highest tree in 
their respective county seats. Or stand them in front of a wall and give them a 
horizontal 21 gun salute. Or invite our favorite Islamic executioner and behead 
them on YouTube.

I get the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

It is designed to stop us from making a spectacle of the administration of 
justice.

It is NOT designed to stop us from killing a guy who snapped his baby daughter 
in half. Or stabbed a cafeteria worker 16 times. Or paid someone else to beat 
his boss to death with a baseball bat.

It is my great hope that the Supremes will NOT get sidetracked in those 
arguments and forget why these clowns are where they are to begin with.

Because whether or not you believe in the broad deterrent effects of the death 
penalty, I can guarantee that if these clowns get it, they won't do it again.

That's deterrent enough for me.

(source: Opinion, Fred Weinberg; westernjournalism.com)