Word: executioner
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You ask if the nation "feels proud, patriotic, relieved or requited" by Charlie Brooks' execution. I feel none of the above. I believe that justice has been served.
A fair execution will never make me feel guilty. People may wince at my use of the word fair to describe an execution, but anyone who wantonly takes the life of another has forfeited his own. Because society makes an effort to be civilized and even gentle in its vengeance...
The death penalty is the ultimate punishment for Charlie Brooks [Dec. 20]. It also grants equity to the victim. Brooks' execution is proof that in a civilized society, people cannot commit barbaric acts without paying the consequences.
Then again, why should one strive for humane executions in the first place? Three stated reasons for capital punishment are social vengeance, the affirmation of civilization's standards and the deterrence of future crimes. The last has never been proved, unfortunately, but if vengeance is what society seeks, a...
As for the satisfaction of civilization, precious little would seem to be gained by conducting an execution in so private a manner as was Brooks'. Four reporters were allowed in, and it is to them that we are indebted for the descriptions of Brooks' yawning, wheezing and clutching...