Now let's keep some persepective on the issue at hand. The young man in question has admitted to 13 victims of his gun weilding viloence - those admitted crimes included; attempeted murder, rape, battery and armed robbery. We are not talkng about a good kid gone bad because he was poor. I was poor. I never consider shooting, robbing or raping anyone to aleviate my poverty, likewise neither did many, many other poor people. Poverty does not justify lack or respect for human dignity!

The death penalty should be applied with careful constraint, perhaps with the litmus test Spaw suggests - beyond all doubt - but let's also keep in mind that this young man's case was tried in court, reviewed and retried in other courts - his story has been told and retold to many of our professional courts and judges - ALL have agreed with the original court's findings after reviewing in detail the case and its background. Why do we suppose we know better after reviewing all the TV news sound bites?

Governor Bush may be someone we want to skewer for this issue, but the fact is; he remained powerless to stop the execution. Texas governors have very little power, compared to Governor's of other states. Bush had to rely on the findings of the parole review board, and could not overturn their decision.

The death penalty is not, in my estimation, a valid deterent for crime, nor is it 'justice' in the sense of "you did a bad thing, now we're going to do a bad thing to you" - it is a ritual act. It says 'we (the state) have a final act that brings retribution to society at large for your crime' - someone in this thread said, human sacrifice - that's probably not too far from the truth. And someone else said "babaric," again, probably not far off the mark, as in base level human needs - The death penalty is a final act to bring retribution for extreme transgessions against human-kind. It is a ritual. I believe it still has a place in our world.

Finally - I am certain that death is not the worst thing that can happen to you. I am the only one in this world who can bring sanctity to my life. I am the only one who know the worth of my own existence, in the light of how the world has treated me, and with the certain knowledge of how I responded to it. Even wrongful death at the hands of a mistaken state who believes me a murderer when I am not cannot take that dignity away from me, when they take my life. I do not believe Mr Graham was wrongfully accused, many, many people have looked at his story in much more detail, and with much more care than I will ever be able to do ... but if he was, his final judgement rested in his own heart, and in the heart of his eternity. This final judgement was not a public issue - for this private issue, I say, as my governor said, "May God bless Mr Graham."