"M. L@#$ was convicted in the May 1992 killing of 30-year-old C. Brown. A federal judge had tossed out the death sentence because L@#$'s lawyer didn't tell jurors at sentencing that L@#$ HAS AN IQ OF LESS THAN 70 and was classified as mentally retarded. In general an inmate who is to be executed must have an IQ at a level 70 or higher. The state's high court said Thursday that it has scheduled the execution of M. L@#$ for Aug. 12."
Senator Shelby,
With all due respect, I have a very serious question: How can we, as a state, execute a man who has an IQ of less than 70? Is this a ploy by the DOC to enforce the rest of the country's view that we are a backward state of uneducated, inbred, toothless, morons? If so, congratulations; it's a great one.
When I was given an IQ test at the age of six, I scored a 140. Mr. Land is half as capable of reasoning as I was as a first grader. While I DO, in fact, support the death penalty (within strict parameters), and staunchly agree that he should not be freely roaming the streets, and that the victim's family has the right to see him punished by the justice system, the retribution-murder by the state of Alabama of a man who is considered to be mentally retarded is NOT justice, it is not going to fix anything, it is not going to bring the victim back to her family-- it is going to destroy another family.
This execution is inhumane, it is barbaric, and, frankly, it is embarrassing to me as an Alabamian and as an American. This is why people leave the South and become those "East Coast Liberals" we hear so much about. No intelligent person with any sense of empathy could bear being associated with such an atrocity.
It is my sincere hope that you will read this in time, and act to save the life of a man who, though a wrong-doer, does not deserve to be murdered by the state for the commission of a crime he is not even mentally capable of fully understanding.
As a closing note, I would like for you to know that Mr. L@#$'s grandfather is a ninety-year-old veteran of World War II who was notified two days before Independence Day that his grandson was going to be killed. Happy Fourth of July, Airman.
Sincerely,
Kristin Marie Brown
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