Death penalty jitters are noted
Editor,
It is a very predictable scenario: The ACLU spearheading the group that includes various churches, lawmakers and others whose avowed intent is to abolish the death penalty. Prison Warden Mahoney voices concern about some of the other prisoners getting the "jitters" and inmates "upset" who can be counseled by mental health professionals.
If the protocol makes the inmates jittery and upset, then maybe the proposition that the death penalty acts as a deterrence has some validity?
Who was there to console and counsel the daughter in the bathtub who was the sole survivor of the strangling onslaught by killer Dawson?
As a long-time proponent of the death penalty I have always felt that the offender should have a choice as to how he/she could be put to death. Utah's legislature at one time provided for the option of the firing squad or lethal injection.
In Montana, lethal injection is how killer Dawson will have his life ended. What is unusual is Dawson's desire to have his execution carried out. However, "Big Brother" ACLU and others are not satisfied with carrying out his wishes.
With the death penalty abolished then the next effort will predictably be placing those murders/rapists killers on a parity when it comes to health care, e.g. organ transplants, advanced medical techniques and procedures, etc.
Who bears the cost? The taxpayers, of course.
Killer Dawson, however, has dismissed all voices of dissent, legal, moral, spiritual and any other anti-death penalty proponents. Dawson's arguments are succinct, rational and convincing. He comes through as a very articulate, intelligent defender of his right to choose the outcome of his journey through the judicial process; the voices of dissent notwithstanding. Attorney General McGrath is precisely on point; they simply do not have standing in this case.
I do not find fault with the Warden's anguishing over his difficult job. However, as a victim's advocate, I concur absolutely with Supreme Court Justice Antonio Scalia that there is "no justice without the death penalty." Dawson appropriately describes his fate in the Missoulian … you "just go to sleep, don't wake up." This does not sound like one who is concerned about his death begging cruel nor unusual.
R.J. Pinsoneault
Polson