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Van Horn Advocate
Many of the survivors expressed the feeling that the executions turned out to be somewhat of a letdown, after all the emotion they had stored up waiting for their moments of retribution. Some recounted the torture that their loved ones had endured before their deaths, and didn't feel that the murderers suffered much in their relatively quick executions.
A lot of points were brought up, from religious views on execution to racial statistics. If you have strong feelings on the death penalty issue, this would be a good article to read.
As most people know, Texas executes more convicted criminals than any other state. How do you, as Texans, feel about that?
Personally, I support the death penalty in cases where there is no doubt that the person convicted is the killer. Sometimes a person is convicted of a crime on the testimony of only one person, and there is always some chance that person could be mistaken. Convicted serial killers who describe their crimes and show authorities where they buried the bodies or who are caught red-handed are another story.
The appeals process should be limited, as should frivolous jailhouse lawsuits, but that is another topic for another time. If there is compelling evidence which might clear the accused that was purposely withheld or not available during the original trial, I can understand granting the convict's appeal, and think they deserve a new trial. However, I don't agree with allowing them endless appeals. If they have arguments about the original trial, let them bring all of their arguments up at once and get it over at once, but don't let the process run on indefinitely.
Also, I don't believe vengeance against the convicted killer is proper justification for executing someone. In the article mentioned above, family members often did not feel vindicated upon witnessing the executions of their loved one's killers. Their healing processes required their freedom to mourn their loss, and many of them held those feelings in check during the trials they had to endure.
Execution is a just punishment for cold-blooded killers, but not because the victim's families want to see them die. I think capital punishment must be a deterrent to at least some would-be criminals, and it is certainly the most effective way to keep a killer from repeating their offense. The death penalty punishes a killer aptly, and often in a more humane fashion than what their victims went through.
Editor's Note: Cara Alligood is an Enterprise writer and advertising administrator.
For the past several years, we received thousands of pounds of Pecos Cantaloupes through assistance from a Pecos veteran MacArthur B. Pineda. Therefore, I want you and your readers to know his efforts are greatly appreciated. Moreover, on behalf of the staff and hospitalized veterans of this facility, I thank another Pecos citizen, Roger Jones of Sun-Up Shed for his generosity in donating the cantaloupes.
FRED C. COX
Community Relations Coordinator
Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail: news@pecos.net
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