In support of the death penalty

Attention capital-punishment opponents: Save your sympathy. A bad man was put to death last week.

Those who oppose the death penalty claim it is hypocritical to punish murderers by putting them to death, and it keeps our society “in darkness.”

In my book, murderers are less than human and have forfeited their rights to be treated as such. I see no conflict, except with some Christian interpretations of morality. These self-appointed biblical scholars have a constitutional right to express their ignorance; fortunately, we do not live under a government controlled by biblical law.

If a jury thinks sentencing a violent criminal to death makes the state a safer place, I applaud jurors for making a tough decision. But what about life in prison without parole? There are those for whom this punishment is too lenient.

There are those whom our rehabilitation -minded criminal justice system cannot rehabilitate. And frankly, I’d rather not have my tax dollars — which could be better spent on education or health care or rehab for Noelle Bush — spent feeding, clothing and sheltering a serial killer until he dies or escapes.

“But they have to think about the horrible act they committed and live with the remorse for the rest of their lives if they are in prison.” Horse manure. Sadly, some people don’t have a conscience; attempting to sentence them to 40 years of guilt doesn’t really accomplish much.

Bonnie Flassig of Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the Death Penalty was quoted in an article last Thursday as saying, “It doesn’t take our state long to kill,” after learning that the sentence had been carried out on Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco.

Does she not realize how long these convicts sit on death row? Or how long they tie up the criminal justice system with appeals?

Some opponents of the most recent Florida execution even go so far as to claim that it was politically motivated — that “Bush killed a person to get votes.” Sadly, in the next breath the same opponents probably claim Jeb isn’t tough enough on crime.

Regardless, the majority of criminals on death row were placed there well before Mr. Bush took office. And where does it say the governor gets to kill anyone? He was simply facilitating a sentence handed down by a jury 14 years ago when Bob Martinez was governor.

Lawton Chiles could have saved poor Rigoberto any time during his two terms in the office. I’m not a huge Jeb fan by any stretch, but maybe this was the “devious plan” Gov. Bush was referring to in regard to the state classroom size-limit amendment.

If he ensures more death sentences are carried out in a timely manner, we might save enough money to pay for the classrooms and teachers we need (or to keep university tuition costs down). Maybe if the state had the money it needed for education 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have so many grown-up murderers running around today.

There were no death penalty “supporters” at the Sanchez-Velasco execution.

Probably because while they support this necessary evil, few people are truly pro-death; thankfully, some of those who are will die just like Rigoberto.