The right to Life, or the right to Death

I've been listening to NPR every morning on my way to work, and evening as I traverse home again. Leading the news for the most part is the sentencing process for Zacarias Moussaoui who was one of the conspirators for the 9/11 attacks.

There are people who have issues with sentencing him to death, because they believe that would make him a martyr. There are others that believe sparing his life would be a travesty of justice.

I can see both points pretty well. But I haven't heard anyone bring up this point.

What is the likelyhood that this man, whether sentenced to Life in Prison or Death, would last long enough to see his next birthday or to see his death chamber?

Prison has a way of dealing with certain types of people on the inside. Look at certain notorious killers and criminals who have committed crimes against children. When the prisoner gets inside, it's a whole new world. And not a pleasant one.

Take a moment and recall Jeffrey Dahmer. The serial killer who had murdered 16 people was killed in prison 2 years after being sentenced to 957 years in prison (15 life sentences).

I could take the time to pull up other notorious criminals that had been taken care of while in prison, but I won't bother at this point.

I believe no matter what sentence he gets, the prison system will take care of him. With this man in a prison with Americans, whether they are criminals or not, it's not likely that he will live longer than a few years. And hopefully very painful at that.

It brings me back to a bumper sticker that was popular after 9/11 about Osama Bin Laden. "It's for God to forgive, It's up to us to arrange the meeting."

In this situation I think he'll be released from this earth long before being executed or any significant number of years have passed in a life sentence. This bothers me not at all. All I really have to say is "Bye!".