A Deal for Justice

With the court-ordered examination of Theodore Kaczynski’s competency underway, the Justice Department has more to gain than lose by fashioning a bargain with him that trades his guilty plea for life in prison without parole. A trial that will assuredly become a spectacle can be avoided--and in the interests of justice, it should be.

Kaczynski’s trial on charges that he built bombs that killed two men and maimed two others was scheduled to begin last Monday in a Sacramento federal court. But the proceedings were stopped when the defendant asked to fire his lawyers because they planned to present evidence of his alleged mental illness. By last Thursday, following Kaczynski’s apparent suicide attempt, long-simmering concerns about his mental competence moved front and center.

U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell Jr. halted the trial until at least Jan. 22 after Kaczynski agreed to the psychiatric evaluation, which he had previously refused, to assess his competence to stand trial and possibly to represent himself. Kaczynski has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him; he faces the death penalty if convicted. The new delay has reportedly prompted the Justice Department to reopen negotiations on a possible plea bargain. Such a deal, which would have to be approved by U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, promises a proper and fair resolution of this case.

Despite his not guilty plea, the evidence that Kaczynski committed the bombings, including his own writings, is overwhelming. It is likely though not certain that a jury would agree. A guilty verdict and a death sentence might be cathartic for the nation, the victims and their families following the Unabomber’s 18-year reign of terror. But a death sentence would come at a high price.

Regardless of the determination of his competence, Kaczynski’s obviously diminished state of mind would make his execution uncertain. A plea bargain that lands him in prison for life--not in a mental institution--could take an extremely dangerous man off the streets, and his guilty plea would provide some solace to his victims and their families. A deal would save taxpayers the multimillions of dollars his two- to four-month trial and subsequent appeals would cost. Moreover, since Kaczynski faces additional federal charges in New Jersey and possible trials on state charges there and in California, the public costs promise to skyrocket for no additional gain. Although the law is unclear, a federal deal could effectively bar these state prosecutions.

A federal agreement could certainly spare other families the anguish that Kaczynski’s brother and mother have experienced. David Kaczynski’s tip to the FBI resulted in his brother’s eventual arrest. The family understood that their help in apprehending Kaczynski would spare his life, but last spring, Reno decided to seek the death penalty. David Kaczynski angrily warned that her decision would dissuade others from coming forward when a relative commits a crime.

David Kaczynski, according to his lawyer, wants “a just and humane conclusion” to this “ordeal.” For everyone involved, that outcome is a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison.