Death penalty too easy for Tsarnaev? #tellusatoday

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Paste BN's editorial on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev says the Boston Marathon bomber should spend the rest of his life behind bars. Yes, this man should spend the rest of his life behind bars – on death row. He should face the severity and evil of the destructive choice he made, then leave the cell in 20 years to be executed.

—Sari Thackner

Capital punishment is discriminatory. A defendant is more likely to be sentenced to death if he is poor, if he is black and most certainly if his victim is white.

—John Spencer

Death will make him a martyr, and his lawyers money by prolonging execution. He deserves life in maximum security solitary confinement without parole.

—@tab91787

Tragically, I'm sure people have been wrongfully executed. But just because the system is flawed doesn't mean we should abolish the death penalty. To me, the benefit of true justice (in this case the death penalty) for those who deserve it outweighs the tragic cost of a rare victim of error. It's not about deterrence, it's about justice.

—Scott Richter

Execute him and be done with it. Want to deter crime? Put it on TV.

—Charles Neely

Letters to the editor:

For a country that appears to care about human rights, why is the murder of an individual by lethal injection, firing squad or hanging OK? In spite of DNA findings that have proven the innocence of people on death row, states can still sanction death. This practice is worsened by crowds outside prison walls chatting and cheering upon hearing of the victim's last breath. They carried on like this at lynchings. How far we haven't come. We shudder when we hear of beheadings, but most don't seem to feel the same chill about American execution.

It is cruel and unconstitutional for a government to murder. It is a crime against humanity.

Diana Dorer; Beacon, N.Y.

The U.S. health care community (including the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and the Society of Correctional Physicians) is united against lethal injection, which violates the core values of healing professions. The death penalty does nothing to enhance public safety. We all want neighborhoods that are safe. We need to do what we know will enhance that: Provide opportunities for education, produce more jobs with living wages, and provide affordable housing and access to mental health services.

Leslie Cassidy;New York