Compassion only for killers

OPINION:

It is apparent that some members of the jury in the case of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killer do not believe in imposing the death penalty for any crime (“Parkland school shooter to get life sentence for killing 17,” Web, Oct. 13).

During the trial, gut-wrenching evidence of the aggravating factors in the slaughter of innocent children was presented. The gunman methodically planned his killing spree and hunted students. The killer admitted his actions and stated that he had done them because he did not like Valentine’s Day (the day on which the murders occurred) and wanted to ruin it for everyone. He was successful, inflicting a lifetime of intense grief on so many shattered survivors’ lives.

Because evidence of the shooter’s difficult childhood was presented, the magnitude of the atrocities he perpetrated was set aside. Some of the jurors chose to show him mercy, something he showed to none of his victims.

The survivors, many of whom were adamantly in favor of imposing the ultimate sentence, have been tragically victimized again, this time by a jury that apparently believes in compassion only for the perpetrator of an atrocity. 

OREN SPIEGLER

Peters Township, Pennsylvania