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Justice and John Byrd
by Lara Konesky
March 3, 2002

To the editor-

I am merely wondering why it is that we have confused the ideal of justice, with this immoral and detrimental notion of revenge. With the recent execution of John Byrd, the lines have become blurred, as they often are.

The concept of taking people out of society who cannot conform to the laws of society is necessary for the greater good, and that is what prisons are for. Once we have given ourselves power to take a person's life, we have attempted to take a position in which we have no right to, a position of God-like authority. In cases of self-defense, where it is inevitably one person's life or the other, there is justification in obtaining that authority, but once a person is imprisoned, there is no longer the threat that makes justification possible.

It is the fact that John Byrd no longer posed a threat to society that renders his execution unjustifiable, which only leads me to believe that someone has failed to differentiate between a desire for revenge, and the humane principle of justice.

The truth is that executing John Byrd only satisfied a number of people's hunger for revenge. If we want to do what is the greatest good for society, we will refuse to give into that dangerous craving. Instead of giving into those who seek contentment from the false and instantaneous gratification of revenge, we must teach people to be gratified by living in a just world.