Swift solutions
Re “The Death Penalty: A Novelist Gets Real,” by David L. Ulin (Oct. 12): The next time the doctor prescribes medicine for a serious illness, don’t take it, just put it on a shelf. Occasionally look in the bottle, shake it once in a while, and after 15 years of suffering, take the medicine. Then you’ll say, “That medicine didn’t help.”
On Feb. 15, 1933, a bricklayer, Giuseppe Zangara, attempted to assassinate President-elect Roosevelt, but killed the mayor of Chicago, Anton J. Cermak, instead. Zangara was executed a month later, March 20, 1933. The death penalty was swift and effective. Zangara never killed again!
Both medicine and the death penalty work best when used immediately, not 15 years after the fact.
James T. Humberd
La Quinta
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