Death and taxpayers

Whenever the topic of the death penalty is brought into the public arena, there's always a debate about whether it's effective, moral ... whatever.

Needless to say, it's been a hot topic here in the Boston area the past few months because of the trial of the Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

His trial at which he was found guilty was a bit of a formality given that on the first day of the proceedings, his attorneys admitted in their opening statements that he planted one of the bombs and was guilty.

So, this trail was never really about guilt or innocence.

Instead, it was about if Tsarnaev was going to get the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in a supermax prison.

Personally, I don't support the death penalty. Not for moral reasons, but because I don't believe it's an effective deterrent. I've never read or heard of a study that proved that the possibility of the death penalty keeps people from committing heinous crimes.

And the issue (as I've learned by watching this case) of whether a state has the death penalty is often moot because Massachusetts does not have the death penalty but Tsarnaev could still receive such a decision because there is such a penalty under Federal law.

If Tsarnaev gets the death penalty and is put to death (a process I understand could take years), people who feel it's an eye for an eye will feel Tsarnaev got what he deserved and he won't be rotting in jail, taking up space.

If he's spared the death penalty, those who want him in jail for the rest of his life with no possibility of parole (he's 19, so he's going to be there a very long time) no doubt will agree with the decision on moral grounds because there will be no more bloodshed.

I don't know what to think here.

On the one hand, killing this idiot I imagine will give victims a sense of closure, and, if I'm being honest, there is something satisfying about this guy dying given what he did and the lives he helped take.

However, it also could make Tsarnaev a martyr to those who believe in and support his cause.

On the other hand, if he spends the rest of his life in jail, it will be a miserable existence. My understanding is that he will be confined to his cell for 23 hours a day in solitary. I can't even begin to imagine that.

But it's one for which taxpayers will pay the tab. I also wonder if the victims and their families won't get the closure they need.

In the end, there's no right or wrong decision here. Just a very difficult one that must be made.