‘New Wave of Executions’

The Times writes, “No rational argument seems able to dissuade those who believe that state-sponsored murder is the way to avenge heinous crimes and to prevent other people from committing them.” Two glaring mistakes.

1. Capital punishment is not revenge. It is exactly what it says: punishment for capital offenses.

2. Capital punishment isn’t employed just to prevent others from committing heinous crimes. Rather, it is used to prevent convicted criminals from doing it again, because most convicted murderers eventually return to walk among us and, alas, a great number of them do indeed kill again.

The Times, in its misguided zeal to fight the death penalty, continues to ignore those two very important points.

RONALD D. HARDCASTLE

Los Angeles