Now he was sitting in the court. Only waiting for his sentence. Would he be sentenced to death or would he be in jail for life. If I could decide by myself he would have been executed. The only question was whether he should be put in the electric chair or get an lethal injection. I wouldn’t have had any trouble by throwing him into the death row. But it wasn’t only I who could sentence him. I and the other 9 members of the jury should together find a suitable punishment for Mr. M. Urderer. That was not as easy as I thought at first. Some, like me, were advocates of the death penalty while others were abolitionists. We all agreed that he was guilty but after a vote we decided he should go to jail for life.
Back in the court the judge was declaring our decision. The killer didn’t appeal. He knew he was lucky.
Some years after I turned my TV on. Another horrible killing had been made. Ben Johnson had been found in his bed. Shot in his head three times. At first I just switched channel but then I started wondering. I knew that name. That was one of the members of the jury in that case about a man who had killed two little girls. Now my mind started to play tricks with me. Could that be the same killer as then? No way. He had been locked away for good. Still I couldn’t throw the thought completely away.
Next day I decided to kill the police. I asked if Mr. M. Urderer was still in their prison. It took a while before the policeman gave me the answer I feared. Because of exceptionally good behavior M. Urderer had been granted parole. I hang up immediately and I looked around in my apartment before stopping at my TV. Another killing in the same state, my state, had been made. And I knew the name of the killed person. Soon after someone knocked on my door…
Dear Judge.
I have been following the case with Mr. M. Urderer and I just want to say that I agree in your and the jury´s decision to not give him the death sentence. You can say that he killed two other persons and therefore should be giving the same treatment but those that make us any better than him and should we really be playing god and let someone decide whether M. Urderer should have the right to live or die. I say no. Though, I still think it is ridiculous when I hear in the news that here in Denmark a drug dealer has been put in jail for 14 years while two brothers who killed a person only got 12 and 14 years in prison. That is not even close to justice in my opinion.
