It's a strange lot of rationalizations we apply to the various circumstances in which ANY taking of a life is involved.

If the victims had had a weapon during the attack and been able to defend themselves by shooting the attackers, there'd be very little debate about the outcome, no matter what the belief system of the almost-victims. If a police officer had saved them by shooting the attackers, same thing. But AFTER the crime, the proper punishment is a 'moral dilemma'. That juror's rationale was awkward and skewed, just as Janie suggests, but millions will agree with her. All that is required is ONE specific interpretation of ONE religious doctrine. I suspect that her interpretation is based on what she wanted to believe, and rationalizing that it would allow"...this man to .... make peace with his Supreme Being..." just eased her conscience.

   Let's be real....the death penalty can be either a subjective judgment or a pragmatic one, and often a mix of the two. It's when we try, as that juror did, to try to 'lay off' the decision to some 'higher principle' that we begin looking ridiculous....at least to those who DO accept responsibility for their own opinions.

I will venture to predict that, as time goes on and we have MORE violence and MORE stress in society and MORE prisons filled with MORE heinous criminals costing MORE millions to maintain and making working conditions MORE dangerous for prison guards, we will see a shift to MORE states allowing capital punishment...and for a wider variety of crimes. That is, I predict more 'pragmatism' and less 'morality' in deciding to allow or impose the death penalty....though the voting may reflect either one.

I am trying not to personally 'favor' ANY decision that involves the death penalty, especially because we know that when it is allowed, mistakes are made in excesses of zeal...often by prosecutors who hate to back down. I have to say though, that when I see depictions of the scope of the problems the prisons and police departments must deal with daily, the pragmatic view has its lure.

*sigh*...it must be easier for those who have some pre-digested absolute standard to help them along...