I read this article and was so disturbed I almost couldn't finish it. I wasn't sure what disturbed me the most: the inhumane way in which this man was executed or the reaction of the family with whom the man murdered. Far too often we see the death penalty as a justified means of justice. But one death being more justified than another is something I can't seem to wrap my head around. I understand that bad people do bad things. We all agree on that. I also understand that families need to feel avenged and want to see the individual in the wrong be punished for his/her acts. But the line needs to be drawn that either murder is wrong or it isn't and killing someone simply on the basis that it appeases those injured shouldn't be enough justification to continue the practice. I got into an interesting debate a while back with a friend on the death penalty and his reasoning behind why he supported it. He told me that because he felt that a decision made by our peers was fair and just regardless of the outcome, that a decision made by the collective was infallible no matter if it was a decision to murder another or a decision to throw them in jail forever. I reminded him that a collective made the decision to murder millions of Jews during the Holocaust and not a single person in their right mind could justify those atrocities. So I asked him where the differences were. How did he draw the line between murdering jews and murdering criminals. Again his reasoning was that since the Jews had committed no wrongs, there were no reasonings behind their murders while criminals deserved whatever they got. But as history tells us, many many Germans believed that Jewish individuals were criminals, that they were financial drains, that they were attempting to take over the world and turn it to ash. In their minds they were ridding the earth of scum and making it a better place. Just as we feel when we execute a violent criminal. So were their murders then justified due to the collective feeling they were doing the right thing for society? If not, then why are the decisions to murder criminals felt by society to be the right thing?