| Justice Delayed |
19 May 2003
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Nichols Faces 160 Murder Counts
Terry Nichols is the greatest American-born terrorist alive. Timothy McVeigh was executed for his part in the Oklahoma City bombings that killed 168, and now, Mr. Nichols is facing the same penalty in a state court in Oklahoma, having been found guilty on federal charges and getting a life sentence. By any logic, this case is precisely why the death penalty needs to stay on the books.
The case against the death penalty is, of course, a moral one which argues that the state is lowering itself to the level of a murderer, that the chances of an innocent dying are greater than zero, and that it is racially biased. Glib replies abound, but a more compelling argument is merited.
When Napoloeon was deposed, he was imprisoned on the Mediterranean island of Elba, from which he escaped. He returned to France and began the 100 Days, ending on the battle field of Waterloo. Had he been executed for the monster that he was (he fell short of Hitler's evil not due to character but due to technology), each and every "innocent" who died in Belgium would have lived.
In the case of Mr. Nichols, he remains a threat even in prison. There are those who would free him (the militias of America are merely quiet; they are not gone), and if freed, he has given no one any reason to believe he would not commit a further act of terror. Should he die? That should be up to a jury and a judge, not journalists on the web. Yet to take that possibility out of their hands is an act of political as well as criminal folly.