Parkland school shooter to get life sentence for killing 17
ThespecOct 13, 2022
On Thursday, a jury recommended that Nikolas Cruz, the confessed shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last year to murdering 14 students and three staff members on Feb. 14, 2018, saying he chose that date so the school could never again celebrate Valentine's Day.
What's the point of having the death penalty if it isn't used against the most abhorrent crimes? Not only is it unfair that while the parents of these innocent teenagers had to bury their children, Nikolas Cruz gets to live out the rest of his life, but this could very well inspire similar atrocities. In this case, the only appropriate retribution is capital punishment.
Capital punishment is a barbaric affair that compounds violence with violence, and isn't the remedy it's often portrayed to be. It involves a drawn-out process that forces the victims' loved ones to relive the crime and is no more effective at ensuring a safe society than a life sentence — we need to reform our sense of "justice."