EXTRA CREDIT POSSIBILITY: TOTAL POSSIBLE: FIVE (5) Points
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READ THESE RECENT New York Times LETTERS to the EDITOR. Select one, and respond from the point of view of the Culture of Death, then from the Culture of Life (150 wds, each response). Type. DUE DATE: Friday, 27 April
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April 16, 2001
An Execution And Its Witnesses
To the Editor:
It is difficult to understand your April 13 editorial applauding Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to
allow the families of the Oklahoma City bombing victims to view the execution of Timothy McVeigh via
closed-circuit telecast. There is absolutely no ethical reason, and should be no legal reason, why anyone, apart from
necessary prison officials, should be allowed to watch a person being put to death.
You appear to believe that we are not taking a step down the slippery slope toward the return of the public
execution. I wish that we could all be so sure.
NICHOLAS CLIFFORD
Middlebury, Vt., April 13, 2001
o
To the Editor:
The debate over televising the execution of Timothy McVeigh (editorial, April 13) should be about neither the
morbid curiosity the American public may have nor the "cruel and unusual spectacle" of an execution. The main
argument in favor of televising the execution is keeping the operation of the government open.
Except for a few areas of government (national security, for instance), we should expect dispassionate openness,
especially in the administration of justice in which we have a properly rendered sentence in a difficult case. All
other criminal penalties like fines and imprisonment are visible to the public; the death penalty should be no
different.
Whether individuals watch the death of a condemned prisoner is a personal choice. Citizens who choose to see this
act may be able to judge for themselves if the death penalty is what we as Americans want from our government.
DAVID DEFREESE
Edison, N.J., April 13, 2001
o
To the Editor:
"Witnesses to an Execution" (editorial, April 13) rightly notes that the Timothy McVeigh execution should not be
publicly televised, but misses the main reason why this is so. The execution should not be televised for the same
reason his recent interviews with the press were a bad idea. Mr. McVeigh craves attention and has shown that he is
willing to murder on a mass scale to get it. Giving him more of what he craves would only reward him and
possibly encourage others like him.
JOHN GODWIN
Raleigh, N.C., April 13, 2001
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
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