Readers Write: Sept. 20

No justice in capital murder cases

On Sept. 26 at 7 p.m., Georgia’s second execution is scheduled, involving Keith Leroy Tharpe, who was convicted of killing his sister-in-law back in 1990. The first execution this year was of J.W. Ledford Jr., convicted of the 1991 murder of his neighbor, an elderly physician. Ignoring the actual details of these capital crimes, what jumps out is the lag time between the crimes themselves and their eventual ultimate punishments. If justice in the ideal be served, it must be impartial and the punishment swiftly administered. In both cases cited, the crimes are separated from their punishments by over a quarter of a century! These two men have lived several executions in their minds, while also being incarcerated for over 25 years. There is no justice in either case — what we are witnessing is nothing less than state-sanctioned murder.

FRANK BRENNAN, ACWORTH

Maybe Floridians didn’t dodge a bullet

Some of those folks on the west coast of Florida rode out the hurricane and got away with it mainly due to the storm’s path. (The wave wash went toward the ocean instead of inland). Some reported superficial damage, trees down and power outages. Man those people did dodge a bullet!

Our power was out only two hours and that was real tough for us. No news, no TV, no heat. Ever tried to brush your teeth in the dark or read a book by candlelight? Given all the headaches caused us by this brief power outage, I’m not so sure that those on the west coast of Florida really dodged a bullet. Our thanks to Georgia Power and the Georgia EMC’s.

ED ROACH, BRASELTON