Death Penalty

* Re “Apartheid Lives on America’s Death Row,” Commentary, June 26:

Jack Greenberg ties something as deplorable as apartheid to the capital punishment argument and inaccurately compares the United States to South Africa. He tells us about the 30 or 40 murderers put to death each year without mentioning the thousands of people who are murdered. He glosses over the deterrent issue by mentioning recent studies where it could not be proved. Lastly, he turns to race in order to illustrate the inadequacies in a system that unfairly targets blacks and rarely whites, specifically in former slaveholding states.

I would like to remind Greenberg that segregation ended in America decades ago. The notion that the death penalty can’t be proven to be an effective deterrent is nonsense. The death penalty is not an option in many states and is not carried out consistently in those states where it is legal. When the death penalty is asked for in all cases of first- or second-degree murder without consideration of race, wealth or celebrity status, then we may find it is indeed a deterrent.

WILLIAM MANNING

Fullerton