The juror’s decision in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev came back yesterday and he has been found guilty on all 30 charges, including the 17 charges that carry the death penalty. This is an incredibly unsurprising outcome, seeing that Tsarnaev plead guilty, his lawyer’s opening remarks were “it was him,” and that the defense did not cross examine a single witness called by the prosecution, the majority of whom were survivors of the attack. The trial, however, is still far from over. The jury must begin deliberations again, this time over whether or not Tsarnaev will receive the death penalty.
The interesting part of this case is that the death penalty is illegal in Massachusetts, but because this is a federal case involving terrorism, the jurors have a right to sentence Tsarnaev to death. Even more controversially, only jurors who found the death penalty morally acceptable were appointed to the jury, increasing the chances of such a conviction. To sentence him to the death penalty, however, there must be a unanimous vote.
Now, I grew up right outside of Boston and have always thought of it as my home city. I wasn’t home when the two bombs detonated at the marathon, but I remember every second of the manhunt and the devastation it caused my city. I had family and close friends trapped in their apartments for days on lockdown. My mom’s office is on Boylston Street (the finish line) and her office was closed for weeks after for both physical and emotional repair. I know several victims of the bombing, and the uphill battle that it was been for families to survive coping with emotional damage, physical ruin, and financial hardship when they needed to treat their recovery as a full time job. I was lucky though. I was healthy, my family was healthy, and I am not a victim of the attack, but I was close enough to feel the tremendous stress and anguish it caused the entire city.
Even after seeing all of the damage though, I cannot support the death penalty for Tsarnaev. What he did was terrible, but killing him will not remedy that. A lethal injection will not bring back Martin Richard, Krystal Campbell, Lingzi Lu, or Sean Collier. It will not replace the lost limbs or remedy the emotional traumas or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Allowing the families of victims to watch as the state administered a poison could be relieving, but does that not lower us as a society and city to his level? Enjoying watching the death of another person, no matter what they have done is animalistic and cruel in its very nature. Ronald Carson, who’s sister was murdered, was horrified after watching his sister’s murderer be killed by the state, stating, “Watching the execution left me with horror and emptiness, confirming what I had already come to realize: Capital punishment only continues the violence that has a powerful, corrosive effect on society.” The death penalty merely continues a pattern of violence and cruelty.
I hope that the jury sees this and after spending so much time in the same courtroom as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, I hope that they see that even after this heinous crimes he is still a human being. On a larger scale, I hope that as a country, we can see this too. One hundred and forty countries have outlawed the death penalty, and the countries that still have the death penalty are not the greatest company: North Korea, China, Somalia, Iran, and Iraq. Even Rwanda, Venezuela, and Serbia have outlawed the death penalty. In the United States we need to stop thinking of violence and death as a solution, and this starts with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Sarah is a freshman and intends to major in economics and political science. We want to hear your view. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
