Court on Capital Punishment

Shortly after World War I, my mother, a young newspaper reporter in Texas, was sent to cover a triple execution. When she interviewed the three convicted men, she found that one of them was severely retarded. The stories she wrote and the campaign she led succeeded in saving that man from death. She was always proud of that accomplishment, and I, as her only child, honored her for it.

On June 26 the United States Supreme Court has made a mockery of my mother’s accomplishment; five eminent justices, including the only woman on the court, have decided that there is nothing wrong with executing a retarded person. Shame, shame, shame! I can only be glad that my mother is not alive to see this.

ELIZABETH B. SPECTOR

Los Angeles