I Was Just Thinking...

The past few weeks here in Boston have seen some serious court cases brought to trial. Most notable, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. We all knew he and his brother were responsible for the carnage caused by the homemade bombs that injured hundreds and killed 3 people. A 4th victim, was killed in cold blood by the Tsarnaev brothers. In a stunning admission, his lawyers conceded "it was him" in their opening statements, so the guilty verdicts reached by a jury last week served as more of a solace than a surprise. But his defense attorney's strategy has always been about saving his life-saving him from the death penalty. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

The same jury that sat in judgement will next week hear arguments next week intended to save the young Tsarnev's life. A life he will spend the entirety of incarcerated, a prisoner of the American justice system. His fate rests in the jury's decision. Live or die, according to the law and a jury of his peers. In a way I feel like this kid wants to die. To him, his brother died a martyr, and he has claimed in his blood scrawled writings on the wall of the boat he hid in that he would like to die a martyr too. By sentencing him to death, are we in fact granting him his wishes? Would justice be better served by making him live out the rest of his long life in the same four prison walls? 

The parents of the youngest victim, 8 year old Martin Richard, have publicly asked for the death penalty to be taken off the table. In a letter published in The Boston Globe, The Martin family believes that a death sentence will bring about years of appeals and "prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives". They ask the US justice system to end the story without death, without parole and without appeals so that they can begin to rebuild their lives. I have to agree with them even though I think that if allowed to live incarcerated, it will be not the last time we will hear from Tsarnaev. 

Will justice be served with a death sentence? I'm not sure.

What about Aaron Hernandez? Was justice served in that case? 

Last week a jury of his peers convincted him of first degree murder in the death of Odin Llyod. In this case there was no admission of guilt, no murder weapon and no clear motive, but the jury felt that the circumstantial case presented to them was strong enough to convict in the first degree. The sentence is life without the possibility of parole. Was justice served? Probably, but I can't be sure. I think Aaron Hernandez is a bad man who let his money and athletic power go to his head and I think we will soon  find out that this is not the first time he has killed someone. It's tragic, how may lives have been destroyed because of Aaron Hernandez and his swagger including his own. 

Justice may have been served for the victims and their families but the truth is justice will never bring back the loved ones lost. The reality is that there is no justice in that.

Uni-boob

So there's a big  Beantown bru ha ha in the paper today about how the notorious Unibomber, Ted Kaczynski was the talk of his Harvard University's 50th reunion yesterday. Apparently the Harvard Alumni Directory, the "Red Book" allowed Kaczynski, a Harvard Alum Class of 62, to post an updated entry with his personal stats. 

 According to today's Boston Herald:

" Kaczynski’s posting lists his occupation as “prisoner” and his home address as the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colo. Under awards, Kaczynski snidely cited, “Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998.” Under publications, he lists a 2010 manifesto, “Technological Slavery,” published by “Feral House.”

Sources say the Yard at Harvard was divided over this controversial addition to the Alumni directory. While some defended his right to be included others, like one of his victims, a Yale professor who lost his eye and hand from a Unibomber bomb, found his entry "chilling".

“It’s very chilling,” David Gelernter said. “He’s an unrepentant terrorist murderer who cut people, and slashed people to death in their kitchens, leaving them to bleed, while he hid in a shack somewhere in the West. So for some institution to lend authority to him, well, I can’t believe such things happen in the United States.”

Kaczynski, one of the world's most elusive and notorious criminals, kept authorities at bay for nearly 20 years as he terrorized the country with his mail bombing campaigns. Arrested in 1996, the Unibomber is responsible for 3 deaths and 23 injuries. He was found in a remote cabin outside Lincoln, Montana, in a disheveled and unkempt state. In his cabin authorities found multiple bomb making materials and over 40, 000 hand written journals detailing bomb making experiments. 

While the climate at Harvard yesterday was divided, some felt uneasy but justified about the controversy.

“One way or another, he has just as much right to be in there as I do. He is a Harvard graduate,” said classmate Richard Tucker, a retired investment manager from Newton. Tucker said he thought Kaczynski’s submission was “a little bit brave.”

Class of 1962 secretary Chris Wadsworth confirmed that the information came directly from Kaczynski and added that, "he has a sense of humor in spite of everything." Yale Professor David Gelernter finds nothing funny about it. 

“The new criminals here are the publishers of this ‘Red Book,’ for their passive collusion with this murderer,” Gelernter said.