Does someone want to tell me why California Judge Alfred A. Delucchi saw fit to transform the imposititon of the death penalty in the Scott Peterson case into maudlin theater?
All that was necessary was that the judge impose, or not, the sentence of death recommended by a California jury. The prosecution was brought in the name of the People of the State of California. It was brought in the interest of justice.
Judge Delucchi permitted the process to be transformed into a rage-filled spectacle of private vengeance. The mother of the victim role played as an unborn fetus pleading with its father not to kill him. The father of the victim promised Peterson he's "burn in Hell." The victim's brother confessed that he'd bought a gun intending to kill Scott Peterson. It had the look and feel of a therapist's rage-soaked office; do we really expect to be guided by people who have so clearly lost their bearings?
That the Peterson family has been wounded beyond healing is abundantly clear. And it is a source of sorrow for anyone with a heart. But our criminal courts aren't about private acts of vengeance. That is why we have foresworn private prosecution of crimes.
Of course, the pendulum is swinging, and we flirt with victims' rights. But look at the cost. The Redwood City courtroom in which Peterson was sentenced yesterday resembled not so much a chamber of justice but a set on Oprah Winfrey. Are we so spiritually numb, dumb and vacant that we must subsist on the contact high of another's rage and sorrow?
When Peterson's father sought to counter the rage, Judge Dimbulb warned the man that he would be expelled from the room. What's a father to do? Sit by nimbly while the state decides to kill his offspring to the warped delight of the victim's family.
Sick, sick, sick. The Peterson family obviously hurts. It needs time to heal, to mend, to finds its way in a world without a loving and adorable daughter. They are hurting, bereft, near destroyed by their grief and anger. All these qualities make them unsuited to lead, to inspire or even to be heard in a courtroom where the work of justice is to be done.
Jackass of the Month award goes to Judge Delucchi. When Solon was required, we got a donkey in robe.
