Readers,
More than two years after he perpetrated one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, has been sentenced to death by lethal injection.
While we hope that the verdict gives the families of the victims some closure, we also acknowledge the realities of our criminal justice system – namely, that Tsarnaev will languish on death row for another 10 to 20 years as the appeals process plays out.
And that lengthy period of time between sentencing and execution is a major problem with the death penalty. Punishment as a deterrent works best when it swiftly follows the behavior that one seeks to deter. In this case, the attack happened in 2013, sentencing was 2 years later, and execution won’t be for another 15 years (the average time on death row in 2012). So 17 years after the attack, society will finally exact retribution. In the meanwhile, there is substantial evidence that death penalty proceedings and appeals cost taxpayers a considerable amount more than similar cases in which life in prison without the possibility of parole is the only possible sentence.
The other problem isn’t necessarily with the process or the cost. But by sentencing Tsarnaev to death, I fear that we’ve turned him into a martyr for other radical Islamists. Tsarnaev’s mother has already made public comments about the U.S. burning “in the flames of an eternal and terrifying fire.” How many others are out there watching and waiting to inflict further devastation to avenge this new “injustice?”
Despite the cost and the length of time it will take to carry out the execution, the sentence was necessary. By sentencing Tsarnaev to death, we send a message to other potential terrorists – we will find you, and you will be punished. We also let the families of the victims know that we care about our citizens – that America will not meet violence against her own with a slap on the wrist for the perpetrators.
Hopefully we can iron out some of the kinks in our death penalty process down the road. But, however imperfect it may be in its current form, it has been justly applied in this case. God bless America.
Until next month,
Esther Fournier
Publisher & Editor
American Recycler News
Published in the June 2015 Edition of American Recycler News
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