Jane LeMond-Alvarez
2404 Larkhaven Lane
Oxnard, CA 93036
805-485-7991

LETTER TO THE EDITOR - 498 words


Re: It is wrong for state to execute Morales on Feb. 21.

Mr. David Howard received a third of a page in the newspaper to tell us why it is wrong to execute a cold blooded murderer. He described in horrific detail the death of a young woman named Terri. He described how Terri was found in a vineyard, naked from the waist down, her skirt and bra were pulled up over her chest and she had been hit in the head 23 times, mostly with a claw hammer. Her face was shattered and she had four stab wounds to her chest. If this isn’t a case for execution, I don’t know what is.
Thank you, Mr. Howard, for describing the lurid cold details of what a cold murderer is. However, you left out two other facets in this horrific crime. Not only was this innocent victim thrown away like trash, her body was then sent to the medical examiners office to be clinically dissected while a team of homicide detectives and other official personnel took photographs of her to document the injuries so that the prosecutor could show the jury and others sitting in the courtroom what these cold blooded murderers did to her. Terri was one of the lucky ones. Her murderers were arrested. This was all done before her loving and devastated family could take possession of their daughter for burial.
Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions devalued Terri’s life by defending these cold blooded murderers with their fantasy quote of “Capital punishment dehumanizes us. In avenging the murder, we become the murderers.”
You call us murderers…I call it seeking justice. I say we devalue society by not insisting on justice for all victims. It is not an eye for an eye – it is to ensure that individuals who murder will never kill another child, brother, sister, son or daughter again – pure and simple.
Terri deserves justice and that will happen in February with the court sanctioned execution of Michael Morales…however, he will not be executed by murderers, as Mr. Howard states, but by those who seek justice for the victim which has been upheld by the courts, jury of his peers and the people. Why should cold blooded murderers get more rights than the victim?
Most of this article was written by an organization that sounds a bit naïve with the real world. They walk the yellow brick road waiving the olive branch…under the false assumption that theirs is a just cause. Throughout history, evil has always existed and will continue to exist as long as we have people who want to dominate and terrorize others. We must never tolerate evil in any way and should always stand tall in the name of justice.
I seriously doubt that violence will rapidly plummet as Mr. Howard states, but within 3 generations we may have a reduction of violent crime if we continue to teach our young compassion, love and nonviolence.
"If You Desire Peace, Cultivate Justice"
by Juan Soma

Jane LeMOND Alvarez