Capital Punishment

Re “Put an End to America’s Death Machine,” Commentary, April 22: I have been a fan of actor Mike Farrell since he played a young medical intern in a short-lived TV drama in the early 1970s. But I feel he misses the mark in his impassioned but misguided commentary, and it was outrageous for him to call those who support the death penalty “a vocal minority that hungers for blood.”

For years I shared Farrell’s contempt for capital punishment, succumbing to the argument that it is not a deterrent to crime. So what? Capital punishment is to stop human killing machines that will likely keep killing, whether inside a prison, where they have little to lose, or outside, since murderers are notoriously adept at getting released, whether legally or by other means.

It is pointless to say that capital punishment is more likely if one is poor or not white, because all punishment is more likely if one is poor or not white. Our justice system is fueled by money and if you can afford the Johnnie Cochrans of this world you can sometimes get away with just about anything. Even murder.

RONALD D. HARDCASTLE

Los Angeles

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Farrell’s essay illuminating the crime of capital punishment deserves high praise. America must learn, as other civilized societies have, that killing the criminal is an inappropriate response to crime. The states set the example. When they employ capital punishment as an instrument of revenge or as a de facto deterrent they tell us that killing is an acceptable social tool. What does that say to the young man with a gun and a grievance?

CHRISTOPHER DAVIS

Redondo Beach