Tsarnaev death sentence debases civil, moral society

Bill and Denise Richard's seven year old daughter Jane lost a leg to Boston Bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev two years ago. She was one of 260 people either killed or injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Yet, the Richards argued against the death penalty imposed on Tsarnaev yesterday. They said the ten to twenty years of appeals will simply sentence them to ten to twenty years of needless suffering as the case must stay fr...esh in their minds. Life, they argue, will minimize their further suffering and let Jane and them move on with their lives. Similarly, a majority of Massachusetts citizens opposed death for Tsarnaev, but only the minority that believes in the death penalty were allowed to serve on the jury. Sadly, the prosecutors and the jurors took the easy route and voted for bloodlust over morality and common sense. The death penalty achieves not other purpose that to give pleasure to the folks who support it. It doesn't discourage crime. It doesn't lift up society. It doesn't promote the better angels in our soul. It isn't cost effective. It is rarely imposed even when handed down. 80 folks have been sentenced to death in federal court since 1988. Just 3 have been executed. A few died of natural causes; the rest are still costing us millions in appeals. The prosecution and jury had a chance to close the books on the Boston Bombers yesterday and blew it. In so doing they sentenced, not just the Richards, but all of us living to 10 to 20...years of hearing the infinitely slow wheels of death penalty justice grind us all down.