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Editor:
This letter is in response to the editorial "Dead Right," featured in the August 28 editorial column. In the staff's discussion of the sentence handed down to Beau John Greene (the death penalty), the convicted murderer of UA music professor Roy A. Johnso n, they state, "We cannot as a society be afraid to put those people to death. We cannot be afraid of sending a message saying that Americans will not tolerate heinous acts like the one committed by Beau John Greene." But, in fact, aren't we, as a societ y, really saying that we DO in fact tolerate murder, for capital punishment is nothing more than legalized murder.
The only difference between what Beau John Greene did and what the government will do to him is technicality. Mr. Greene is bound by the law; government is seemingly not. What Mr. Greene did was a truly horrible, cold and sick act, and he deserves severe punishment, but by killing him and others like him, the only message we are sending out to the general population is that murder can be justified. As the bumper sticker says, "Why do we kill people to show people that killing people is wrong?"
It is necessary that there be a severe form of punishment for people who commit violent acts such as Mr. Greene did, but here we encounter the problem with our prison systems, which are too easy on criminals. Juvenile jails simply train children to be har d criminals, and adult jails give their inmates three square meals a day, televisions, video games, etc. The concept of parole has also taken away from the prison system. What Mr. Greene should have gotten was the rest of his life to spend in a prison wit hout the "luxuries" of life (televisions, exercise equipment, video games, etc.), with nothing to do but think about his life. That is a severe punishment; one in fact, which I believe death would be preferable to.
Melissa Meister
molecular and cellular biology junior
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