By PAULA LIVINGSTON, Daytona Beach


I must take exception to the Oct. 2 column, "Time to abolish the death penalty."

I agree with the position that improvements need to be made with the system, and that it's absurd that years go by without the death penalty being carried out in many cases.

However, contrary to the writer's stance, I feel the death penalty is an essential part of our judicial system. As he pointed out, the argument against the death penalty has valid points, but I do not think that they outweigh the form of justice that the death penalty constitutes in 2011. Yes, in the past there have been instances of those who served time on death row, and sometimes met their end, as the wrongly convicted. But with advances in forensic science and investigative practices, today those instances are rare.

The death penalty for serious crimes has been a part of judicial systems throughout the history of civilization. In the United States, procedures for execution are far less cruel than the executions in some countries. I believe -- and possibly many other readers believe -- in the importance of this level of justice. In some cases, it is simply owed to the victims who suffered, or lost their lives, because of the acts of those who have been convicted of these most heinous of our society's crimes. The death penalty serves as a deterrent, and if we did not have the delays in our present court system, then overcrowding and terrible conditions on death row would not be an issue.

I do understand, and even agree, with many of the writer's points, but I feel his opinion does not take into account the victims of those on death row.

Livingston is a photography student at Daytona State College.

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