Petit Letter

This is the statement issued by Dr. William Petit, in support of Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoing the bill that would abolish the death penalty. I am deeply saddened that the legislators of the state of CT have walked away from justice. For certain murders and other crimes there is no penalty that will serve justice other than the death penalty (DP). It transcends national borders, races and cultures. It is the appropriate societal response to the brutal, willful act of murder. The issue here is not revenge. Nor is it any of the other arguments that the anti-death penalty abolitionists use as tactics to take the focus away from the critical issue. Their main concern appears to be the protection of criminals and saving money. The issue is, quite simply, Justice. And it seems to me that what is right and moral never appear to be part of their arguments. When a family member is murdered it destroys a portion of our society. Those murdered can never grow and contribute to humankind. The realization of their potential can never be achieved. Those who knew them can never hold them, spend time with them, and see what they would add to their family's lives and society in general. Interestingly, an argument made by many of the abolitionists is that life in prison without the possibility of parole is a "worse" punishment than death. If they are so magnanimous, why are they opting for a punishment that is worse, i.e., LWOP instead of the DP. The problem with the legislature is just that - the legislature. Next year if the death penalty is repealed we will begin to see a move afoot to lessen the sentences of those serving LWOP. This is not a farfetched notion as it's now being discussed in other states for the sole purpose of "saving money". The legislators want to take years to allow the killers to utilize our resources when these animals have broken a sacrosanct law of our society - the respect for innocent human life. Once you have broken this rule you have forfeited your right to live among us. There is only one way to lose that privilege. And that is to willfully and unlawfully take another person's life (MURDER). The death penalty is lawful execution. Those on the Judiciary Committee do their best to make it nearly impossible to implement and then tell us "it doesn't work-we should abolish it". It doesn't work because they have stood in the way of meaningful reform for the past 20 years. The Judiciary Committee and the Public defender's office seem to have little interest in victims. Those on Judiciary walk by us, afraid to look us in the eyes; all while going out of their way to decrease the budget for the Office of the Victims' Advocate by 20% and increase subsidies for convicted criminals. Do you see a trend? The story tells the tale of who the Judiciary and the Democrats in the legislature support. Sadly, it seems to be the criminals. There are many convicts on death row who should have been executed years ago.The Judiciary Committee, and the Legislature in general, have had years to revamp the appeals system. They continue to allow defendants to appeal repeatedly, even when it is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are guilty. One Connecticut judge recently lamented that a particular convict was on his 33rd appeal. This denial of justice not only continues to victimize the victims' families, but is also a huge waste of taxpayers money. Mr. Lawlor asked Kevin Kane to come back to the Judiciary Committee with a proposal to shorten the appeals process. Mr. Kane did so and Mr. Lawlor completely ignored it never allowing for public discussion. In addition he never let the proposed bill on habeas appeals out of Judiciary committee because it allows condemned prisoners to appeal nearly indefinately without any logical reason or shred of hope of succeeding in anything other than delaying their execution. Who suffers? Who loses? You guessed it-the victims. Where is the justice? Where is their sense of right and wrong. Clearly they have none. These violent criminals have been tried by a jury of their peers and found guilty. The defense wants it both ways. They claim to require up to five years to "prepare" for a DP case. No small irony because the most common cause for appeal is "inadequate defense". This wastes hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions - just for the defense team to almost invariably lose the case. To be personal in my case, the District Attorney has been ready to go to court since march 2008 and the defense (Ullman and Donovan) are wasting as much time as possible because they have no concern for the victims nor for the thousands of dollars that they will waste. These are heinous murderers who have forfeited their rights to continue to live among us. I suspect many murder victims and their families would like the legislature to provide a magical mechanism for them to delay the cruel and heinous murders of our loved ones-but these legislators seem far more interested in the

murderers than the law-abiding citizens of the state. But because the Democrats have a super majority they feel they can enforce their will upon the people of CT. All the polls I have seen show that a majority of citizens of the state favor the death penalty and yet these legislators feel that they are wiser than all the societies that have existed for tens of thousands of years that used the death penalty as the ultimate penalty. It always was and always will be a deterrent for one simple reason. The executed person can never kill again. In summary, all I can say is that it is a very sad day to be a citizen of the state of Connecticut as we are represented by people who do not have the courage to stand up for what is right and just. I am sorry for their misguided philosophies. It will lead to a weakening of the very fabric of our society and will deny the justice due to the victims of violent crimes and their families. Do not listen when these legislators say they repealed the Death Penalty for the victims' sake - or for society for that matter. They did it for themselves and their inability to make a difficult decision to stand up for what is right and just. Sincerely, William A. Petit Jr. MD Husband of Jennifer and father of Hayley and Michaela Petit-all 3 murdered by paroled prisoners caught on site and now 670 days later still not at trial-Justice is not a word with which the State of Connecticut is familiar Please contact Governor Rell and ask her to VETO this terrible piece of legislation and let Lawlor and McDonald know how you feel as well. If you agree please pass this along to all in your address book-if you disagree I pray that you and your family never become the victims of serious violence and never have to consider what you truly feel is justice and right.