I would like to congratulate Mary Jane Reed Gaudet on her letter to The Democrat regarding capital punishment, or “state murder.”

Any informed person should know the death penalty does nothing to prevent murder or any other crime.

Two wrongs certainly don’t make a right, and most of all, it has, through thousands of years, taken thousands of innocent people’s lives. And while this situation had much improved with DNA, it can still happen.

Just because 12 people “find” someone “guilty” doesn’t mean that they actually are.

Once the state murders them, it cannot give back their life. Only God can give that.

From a monetary standpoint, because of the years involved and the legal costs, it costs much more to state murder a person than to imprison them for a lifetime.

It is sad to note, that of the major states of the world, only China, Japan and parts of the United States still do state murder.

Arthur E. LaSalle

Historic Springfield Foundation

Jefferson County