There are those who say the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, even though the signers of the constitution believed in and used the death penalty. These same people say that a life sentence is a worse punishment for murderers since they to have sit in their cells and dwell on their crimes for the rest of their lives. So, if life imprisonment is a worse punishment than the death penalty, and if the death penalty is cruel and unusual, then it follows that a life sentence must be more cruel and unusual than the death penalty.
In 1995, Susan Smith received a life sentence for murdering her two small sons. After over 20 years of dwelling on her crime, what are her thoughts on the crime she committed? In a recent letter to reporter Harrison Cahill of The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina Smith wrote,
"It has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself. It is frustrating to say the least. Mr. Cahill, I am not the monster society thinks I am. I am far from it. Something went very wrong that night. I was not myself. I was a good mother and I loved my boys. The thing that hurts me the most is that people think I hurt my children in order to be with a man. That is so far from the truth. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. I was not in my right mind. The only reason I lied is because I didn't know how to tell the people who loved Michael and Alex that they would never see them again. I didn't want to hurt them. I knew the truth would come out, but I had planned to kill myself first and leave a note behind telling what had happened. I didn't believe I could face my family when the truth was revealed."
So much for her seeing the error of her ways. She is just as repentant as Charles Manson was after 50 years of "contemplating" his crimes. He died in prison without ever repenting for his crimes.
