f the nightmare that the family is forced to face is not enough to persuade some of the need for retribution, then the prosecutors, media, and law enforcement will try to convince the family of it. According to Richard Estell, whose daughter was raped and murdered in 1993, [The prosecutors, media, and sheriffs department] told me, We are going to catch this man. We are going to convict him, and when we have an execution, you will be healed (Brownlee). Other families see an execution as a way to put an end to the loss suffered. Darlene Welch, who lost her four-year-old niece in the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh, said, The sooner [McVeigh] meets his maker, the sooner justice will be served (Brownlee). On June 12, 1997, Kenneth B. Harris was executed by lethal injection in the Huntsville State Penitentiary by the state of Texas. Eleven years earlier, he had raped, choked, and drowned Lisa Haack. Lisas sister, Vicki, sat in the viewing room and watched as her sisters killer was put to death. After the execution, Haack said that her family had forgiven Harris. We have no hate or bitterness in our hearts, she said. But that doesnt mean he does not pay for his crime (Brownlee). Just before his execution, Harris turned to Haack and said, I hope you can go on with your lives and we can put an end to this. Harris statement seemed to capture what so many family members hope to get out of an execution: putting an end to it (Brownlee).After all that the victims family has been through, do they not deserve to see justice served? Who can argue with this emotional pattern of reasoning given to families of the victim by the media, law enforcement, and society as a whole? The final reason that the death penalty is used in the United States is because of public lack of trust in the judicial system as a whole. People who support the death penalty fear offenders will be released from prison after a short sentence if they...
