What exactly does Dan Rodricks think a life sentence means (“Rodricks: Why is Maryland keeping an 85-year-old man and four other octogenarians in prison?” Nov. 5)? It means the convict will spend the rest of his or her life in prison. The convict will never play with his or her grandson at the beach. The convict never will be able to attend a son’s wedding or see his first grandchild. The convict never will be able to see the joy in a loved one’s face. Never.
Why do we impose life sentences? Two reasons. First, the convict took these simple pleasures away from others. Ask Maryland State Police Cpl. Ted Wolf’s wife and three children how many family events Corporal Wolf attended after he was brutally murdered by Eric Tirado in 1990. Why should the murderer have any hope of ever being free again while Corporal Wolf never got to see his children again? Does Mr. Tirado some day get a pass because he committed his crime at a young age and is likely to spend two-thirds of his life behind bars?
Second, there is the deterrence. Hopefully, knowing that there is a strong likelihood that if someone commits a crime, there will be a penalty — up to and including spending the rest of his life in prison. Seeing these penalties actually carried out enforces this. Does Mr. Rodricks also think that we should stop pursuing criminals once they reach a certain age? I would like to hear him explain his thinking to the families of the 19 murder victims of James “Whitey” Bulger whom the FBI chased for 16 years until catching him at age 81 in California. Bulger ultimately was convicted at age 83 and sentenced to two life sentences which he justly deserved.
Mr. Rodricks needs to think back to his grade school years when his classmates warned other kids, “you’re going to get caught.” Part of getting caught also is being punished and others seeing the punishment carried out. Just how much control does anyone think Mr. Rodricks’ teachers would have had if they were not allowed to carry out their punishments? Punishment for crimes needs to be certain even if it takes years to catch the criminal. Ending life sentences just because a convict reaches a certain age is far from certainty. Never means never.
John McDaniel, Baltimore
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