The Editor, Sir:

Without the death penalty, what is Jamaica going to do about the increasing numbers of criminals running wild all over this land? I suspect you will then resort to doing what England does, which is to give them short sentences and mollycoddle them while they are in the system. They enjoy being in jail so much many of them cannot wait to go back after release; giving rise to what is now called a 'revolving door' prison population. Is this what you want in Jamaica? More to the point, can Jamaica afford to build more prisons just to stockpile ever-increasing numbers of criminally-minded people? I say, 'hang 'em high and hang 'em now!' Look to preventive measures such as minimum (10-year) sentences for minor crimes and zero tolerance for all misdemeanours.

A vote against the death penalty at this time is like doing nothing, and this is not an option right now for a land bleeding to death.

I am, etc.,

J. BERNARD

jamal@hotmail.com

Via Go-Jamaica