THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, August 17, 1995              TAG: 9508170007
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A14  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   37 lines

LET SMITH THINK ABOUT HER CRIME

Regarding ``Shocking sentence for Smith'' (letter, Aug. 5): I am in disbelief that people still think the death penalty is worth advocating. Americans, as letter writer Joel Sullivan said, have come to hold a ``distorted view''; we still think the death penalty is positive.

For many years, the consensus has been in the criminal justice community that capital punishment serves only retribution. There are several items that need to be reiterated:

(1) There is a higher rate of capitally punishable crimes when the state imposes the death penalty. This is known as the Brutalization Theorem.

(2) Related to the Brutalization Theorem, general deterrence does not work for any crime.

(3) It costs more tax dollars to execute someone than it does to lock him away for the rest of his life.

(4) As horrible a crime as Smith committed, she should not get off as easily as death; she should have to think about what she did for many, many years.

Mr. Sullivan cites four biblical references as justification for capital punishment. But the Bible also says, ``Turn the other cheek,'' which technically means that a strong advocate such as Mr. Sullivan should be the first to offer his children to Mrs. Smith to throw in the lake.

Mr. Sullivan, like the rest of us, does not know the actual jury perspective and is in no position to judge its verdict.

DANIEL RASMUSSEN

Norfolk, Aug. 5, 1995 by CNB