Letter: What is wrong with our justice system?

Robert B. White, Germantown

An admitted drug-ring hit man will serve probably 21 years for the three men he tortured and murdered (Jan. 4 article, "Drug-ring hit man cries, apologizes"). If there was ever a case for leading someone from the courtroom to the gallows, this is a prime example.

Criminals of this caliber should be eliminated from society, not housed at taxpayer expense. At the end of his sentence, at a cost of about $1 million to taxpayers, he will be out on the streets again. The three men he murdered, though probably not pillars of society either, will still be grieved over by their loved ones.

On that same page, we learned that a Lakeland man faces more prison time than this hit-man, and all he seems to have done is some shenanigans with endangered whale tusks and some money-laundering. Yes, he should be punished for breaking the law, but this is absurd in comparison. Obviously, our justice system has gone wildly askew.

There is not a lot I agree with in countries that adhere to Muslim law, but these countries swiftly execute drug dealers. I suspect that if our justice system took this approach we would see a dramatic drop in crime, and we could better spend taxpayer dollars on something other than free room and board for people the society would be better off without.