Friday, August 06, 2004

Closure?

One of the arguments often used in favor of the death penalty is that it brings closure for the families of murder victims. But sometimes closure does not seem to be all it's cranked up to be.

Consider this quote from today's Washington Post. I see quotes just like it at least once a month. The quote is from the son of the woman who James Hubbard was convicted of murdering; Hubbard, as you probably know by now, is the 74-year-old man executed last night by the state of Alabama:

"I'd just as soon see the electric chair or the firing squad; it looked like he went kind of peaceful, just dozed off," Montgomery said. "I would have just loved to see him suffering a little more."

We abolitionists abhor violence -- and our heart goes out to the loved ones of murder victims. But this person waited 27 years for this execution to occur -- and once it did occur, he expressed a let down.

I don't really think that's closure.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sadly I will have to disagree with you David, the man got closure from the execution its just he wished that the man was punished a bit more for what he did. By closure I mean he now no longer has to deal with the thought of the psycho killer getting out and killing someone new. He can now move on and get over his lost loved one once and for all.