Dear editor:
Yet again Mr. Scott Ruff has blessed us with another asinine attack on Gov. Hutchinson and other Republicans. He appears to blame Republicans in general and the governor in particular for the scheduled executions of the confessed, convicted and often-appealed murderers on Arkansas' death row.
Mr. Ruff cites "Thou shalt not kill" as his reasons for objecting to the death penalty. It is indeed regrettable Mr. Ruff could not have been at the scene of the murders to administer this admonition to the killers.
I have noticed many criminals "find God" while in prison. This is a good thing, however belated. Still I find this very interesting because God was not lost. God was there and available to them during their entire lifetime. He was there before they committed their heinous crimes. Far better to have sought God before a life was taken, rather than inviting him into your jail cell.
I must admit I have misgivings about the state taking a life. I hold this belief because I realize there are margins for error and the danger exists of executing an innocent individual and that would be horrific. For this reason I am in favor of exhausting every means of appeal afforded a prisoner sentenced to death. However, when the individual has confessed, been convicted of his crime and leaves no doubt he has committed the murder(s), then I see no reason the sentence should not be carried out. Please remember, Mr. Ruff, these folks were not sent to death row for singing too loudly in church.
Just as an aside, Mr. Ruff, I should like to call your attention to the fact that a great Democrat hero, Mr. Bill Clinton, found time between his sexual tryst to oversee four executions during his tenure as governor. One of which was a brain-damaged killer of a policeman. In fact, Mr. Clinton left the convention of the DNC in order to witness this execution. A stay had been requested of the governor to commute the sentence based on the prisoners diminished capacity, which Clinton declined. He had previously lost an election partially because it was felt he was soft on crime and perhaps he decided politics dictated he change directions. It has been reported that the doomed prisoner had stated he would vote for Clinton in the next election. This alone speaks volumes as to the man's sanity.
Cal Wilcox
Hot Springs
Editorial on 04/26/2017