To the editor:

Cal Thomas condemns the recent rescue of 171 lives from execution in Illinois: “a father who tortured his mute, retarded and handicapped stepdaughter for five years until she died … deserves to have his life taken from him.” But his refusal to tell us why is revealing: What he has to know the most, he hides. Why? Because he doesn’t know it at all.

What Thomas knows is he wants to kill those who outrage us. I understand. But what does that have to do with justice? Thomas never says. He needs to. He demands endless executions from us. Murder will always exist, so these murderous echoes, our doubling of death, will, too.

We do know this about justice: It can’t be about the past if that means giving the same harm for harm done. That’s impossible. The harm death does is never comparable between two people, so radically unique are each of us and what death would deny. Our dying is unique as our lives. So what does the killer described by Thomas deserve? In this world, both his stricken child and the miserable and obviously insane wretch that tormented her deserve better than life gave them; they deserve healing, sanity. One still might get it.

Sometimes we have to concede tragedy. Justice for this child escaped us. So justice points to the future, to vigilance, not vengeance for the past, to future healing, not to futile, murderous echoes.

Lee Basham,

Lawrence