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Editor:
This is in regards to Melissa Meister's Nov. 12 opinion, "Killing criminals will not make America safer." In the letter, she states that "we as a society cannot afford to sink into the depths of depravation that murderers and rapists fall into," and that mandatory sentencing with a work program is the best way to frighten murderers and rapists into not committing these crimes.
I completely agree with the idea of cutting off the "free ride" that prison time has become. I also completely agree with the idea of making prisoners earn their keep by working to ease the taxpayer's burden. But the best way to keep people from committing crimes is to frighten them out of doing it.
Meister says "our prison system is an ineffective deterrent to crime." This is because criminals do not mind going to jail not only because of the "free ride," but because they've got a good chance of getting out.
Certain execution of murderers and a lifetime of busting rocks for rapists would most certainly make America safer because the person about to commit the crime would definitely weigh the importance of killing or raping someone against the value of the rest of their life. And for those who don't think first, someone who kills without thinking just needs to be removed on principle.
Imposing mandatory work for lesser offenders, drug dealers, money launderers, etc. would create the same effect. I would rather give inmates a list of jobs they need to complete in order to be released than a set time to serve. Telling prisoners that they need to grade a few hundred miles of road in ten hour days before they can rejoin society will cause most to never want to go back to jail, and get a lot of roads graded quickly and cheaply.
Murder is a very inhumane act any way you look at it, but allowing murderers back into society is far worse regardless of if they've served time. Killing criminals will make America a safer place by removing dysfunctional members of society, while at the same time giving potential offenders a good reason to reconsider their actions.
Cliff W. Fabacher
undeclared freshman
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