I have opposed capital punishment for many years now and I always will. Had Susan Atkins have been executed thirty-nine years ago, I would have mourned very little. By no standards was her conduct defensible and her crime and reaction to it at the time were so heinous that it was impossible to muster any compassion for her.
She has now been in prison for over three fifths of her life. The woman, who committed the terrible crimes, of which she was convicted, has already died. There was nothing spectacular about it, but it happened. It was a long, slow death, in which she had time to fully contemplate and become aware of the awfulness of what she did. In short, a terrible retribution has been extracted for an unspeakable crime.
The pathetic, dying creature, whom we are now talking about, is of no danger to anyone and is asking for a few days or weeks to die in a place of her choosing. I believe we have had our revenge. We can't recall the victims to ask for their opinions. On their behalf do we choose mercy or punishment? We can't change what she did. She now knows and acknowledges what she did was wrong.
Compassion should not only be for the virtuous and attractive. Showing compassion to Susan Atkins now would not diminish our respect for the vicitms and their families. It would however, say something about us.
I am very sorry if I am potentially giving offence to many good folks here, whom I respect so much. Beware of the urge to punish. Punishment should always be finite.