Praise to Moussaoui Jurors

It was gratifying to hear that the jurors deciding the fate of Zacharias Moussaoui refused to execute him in spite of the intense pressure, both within and outside the courtroom, to do so. The pure pragmatics of avoiding another inflammation of anti-American sentiment was served, but the much larger issue of resolving not to use our own justice system to take the life of another human being was also at issue. Sooner or later, I believe, we will realize that we cannot claim a humane system of justice if it is based on retribution, especially when taken to the extreme of execution.