Alan Dershowitz doesn't think the Boston Bomber will get the death penalty:
Remorseless Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will not be executed for his role in the horrific Boston Marathon bombings — even though "if ever a crime deserved the death penalty, it's this one," famed civil-rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz tells Newsmax TV.
"Tsarnaev is going to spend the rest of his life in prison and will die in prison, not as a result of execution," Dershowitz said Thursday on the "Steve Malzberg Show."
Given what we know about Massachusetts' opposition to the death penalty, I suspect he's right. Even some of the victims say they'd rather see him get a life sentence. Based on Dershowitz's remarks and what I read between the lines, I suspect he and I are pretty close on the death penalty: Conflicted about it, with growing doubts, but still reluctant to take it off the table for the worst-of-the-worst crimes.
Charles Krauthammer had an interesting take on why it might be better not to put him to death:
”This reminds us, once again, that this is not ordinary crime, it’s not even [an] ordinary enemy; these are people who are irredeemable” Krauthammer said on Special Report. “Nonetheless, I personally generally oppose the death penalty with some exceptions. I would rather not make him a martyr."
He went on to say that it might even be a worse punishment for him to sit in a small cell lfor the rest of his life and reflect on what he had done. That's a provocative thought. We all die. The only way we can leave our mark on the world before sliding into the great oblivion is to live our lives as we choose. Denying Tsarnaev the ability to do that will punish him much more than pushing him into eternity slightly ahead of schedule. So, is the anti-capital punishment position really the more compassionate one?
