Bruce Tracy’s “Another Trip to Death Row” (letters, May 19) was clearly written with compassion. As a Roman Catholic, I believe no person is beyond God’s mercy, and that redemption is possible even for people who have committed terrible crimes.
But as a retired police officer, I have not only seen the damage violent crime leaves behind; I have also experienced it. That makes it difficult for me to read about redemption without also thinking about the victims and their families.
Where I disagree with Mr. Tracy is in his certainty. He wrote that anyone who debated him on whether these men had changed “would be wrong.” That is where his argument goes too far. He may have witnessed something sincere and hopeful, but no visitor, chaplain, or reader can know with certainty what is in another person’s heart. Only God can.
I would respectfully suggest that after visiting death row, he also spend time with victims of violent crime and their families. Sit with the widow whose husband was murdered, the parents who buried a child, or the son or daughter still carrying the lifelong consequences of another person’s evil choices. Listen to the pain that does not simply go away.
Believing in redemption does not mean we ignore justice or minimize the suffering of victims. We can hope that a condemned man has truly changed, while still remembering that only God knows the human heart.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ calls us to mercy. But mercy does not remove accountability, and forgiveness is rarely simple for those who have suffered terrible loss.
I hope Mr. Tracy is right about the men he met. But compassion should not stop at the prison gates. It should also reach the victims and families who still live with what was done to them.
Arthur Tom
Valencia
