Letter: Punish child killers with penalty of death

Here they come. It never takes very long. Whenever a child is senselessly brutalized and then murdered, here come the bleeding hearts. You know ... the ones who think they are morally superior to those of us who want the murderers to be properly punished. The ones who sum up the murder of a child as being sad beyond words; however, their agenda is to move quickly onto the protection of the murderer.

Susan Paslov states that the more civilized countries (which ones are those?) have abolished the death penalty. It would seem to me that a truly civilized country would do whatever it takes to stop the killing of our children. Studies have proven that the countries with the most severe and expedient punishments have less crime, period. As for the Babylonian King decreeing that the punishment should never be more severe than the crime, well, that's where the death penalty comes in.

Putting a murderer to death with an act that only takes a few minutes makes the punishment much less severe than the crime. The victims of these horrific murders never get off that easy. Life imprisonment does not serve as justice for a child murderer. It is a punishment on our society. If punishment of these crimes was carried out swiftly the price tag would be tiny in comparison to giving them free room and board for life. I can't even imagine the burden that is carried by the families of these victims.

While trying to carry on with their lives, they know that part of the tax fund which they are forced to pay into goes to defending, feeding and clothing the murderer of their child. I have no children of my own but I know this pill would to hard to swallow.

Ms. Paslov states that the "Eye for an Eye" edict did not come from the "Good Lord." "Evil in this world exists because good men (women) do nothing," did not come from the "Lord" either, however, I believe both statements to be accurate. Evil, I suspect, comes directly from the other source, the "Bad Devil." I believe the "Good Lord" encourages us to take actions that squelch out the "Evil." It is our job while we are here on this earth.

I am not a vigilante. But I do declare that forgiveness/tolerance is grossly overrated. I would very much like to see a town meeting put in place to support the families of these victims. Please contact me if you are interested in discussing what steps we can take to assure swift punishment is taken against these types of offenders in an attempt to make this a safe/no tolerance for crimes against children place to live.

LINDA CHARLES

Dayton

Editor's note: Anyone interested in contacting Charles on this issue may write to the Nevada Appeal, PO Box 2288, Carson City, NV 89701, or e-mailing appeal@tahoe.com. Messages will be forwarded to her.