May Justice and Compassion Prevail in the Minds of Governor Crist and Supreme Court Justices

As the execution of Martin Grossman nears (less than 4 hours), the Pope has called for mercy and issued a plea to Florida Governor Charlie Crist to commute his sentence to life without parole.

The Pope's call comes on the heels of a similar plea by Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger who wrote "It has come to my attention that new evidence has surfaced and changes in the law have taken place that merit the consideration of clemency... Biblical tradition also emphasizes that justice must be tempered with mercy, and justice must be scrupulously administered to avoid any possible miscarriage. This is particularly true in the case of capital punishment."

But so far, these pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Florida's well-oiled death machine seems to be working at full speed toward carrying out the impending execution, and Governor Crist has so far ignored the pleas of well-respected organizations and tens of thousands of American citizens.

I have always opposed capital punishment and devoted much time to publicize the case of Troy Davis, an innocent man on death row in Georgia who three times came perilously close to being executed. But this case illustrates graphically the extent of the obscene obsession that Americans have with executing people. Why do Americans, who can be proud of so many accomplishments in law, still maintain a system that deliberately kills defenseless people who have repented and do not pose any threat to society in order to satisfy the so-called "closure" wishes of victim family members? This whole notion is sick and perverse. Moreover, when I read that they make a public spectacle of the execution, and invite the victim's family to be witnesses and cheerleaders during the actual execution - it is downright repulsive and obscene. A state-sponsored murder to satisfy the primal, animalistic desire for revenge. This system needs to be overhauled. In the few hours left to save Martin Grossman's life, may wisdom, compassion and human sensibility prevail in the minds of the Governor and the Supreme Court Justices who were asked this morning in an emergency petition to stay the execution for 60 days.