No Tears for Paul Reid

April 30, 2003

I fully expected to wake up the morning of April 29 th to the news that Paul Reid had been executed.   I’ve never really been a big fan of state-sponsored executions, although I certainly wasn’t going to shed any tears over Paul Reid.   I’ve always opted for a lifetime of extremely hard labor with absolutely no chance of parole.   However, this time things were different and I struggled to figure out why.

Perhaps it was the brutality and senselessness of the Reid killings.   Without a doubt, he is a cold, calculated killer who had no regard for his victims.   No one deserved more to die than Paul Reid.   I must admit that I was disappointed upon awakening to find that he still lived.  

His defense lawyers maintain he’s insane.   Is he crazy?   Probably, but isn’t anybody who murders, especially in the case of multiple murders?   That should not preclude punishment.  

I can just imagine the instant he pulled the trigger; the utter sense of power that must have enveloped him.   The sick, euphoric rush he got from being the master over life and death, adding a twisted meaning to his pathetic, worthless life.   Sure, he’s crazy.   All the more reason to make sure he never has a chance to do it again.

In years past, when I’ve seen cheers erupt outside of prisons when executions were carried out I cringed.   No love lost for the murderer, mind you, but sad for the apparent barbarism we, as a society, had stooped to.   The revelers seemed to lack the dignity appropriate at such a time.   I guess I expected a certain amount of reluctance on the part of those seeking justice, much the same way a master puts down his dog that’s turned from docile family pet to vicious killer.   It’s not a pleasant task but a necessary one.

Why did I feel differently this time?   Why would I have no problem with this particular execution?

Then it dawned on me.   The war.   We just spent a month anticipating the announcement that Saddam Hussein was dead.   Of course, Reid’s a murderer in a different league than Saddam but a murderer nonetheless.   We’ve been in a killer mode since March.   We’ve been numbed to collateral damage and, to a certain extent, even our own casualties.   It’s a necessary defense mechanism in time of war.   You can’t be consumed with loss of life or the job would never get done.   You have to be willing to accept the new rules of war, which violate all rules of civility, in order to protect yourself, your comrades and your country.  

It’s that intolerance for the enemy that has spilled over into civilian life, at least for me.   Paul Reid is, in a sense, the enemy.   He is an enemy of society, one who must be dealt with severely.   Had he been engaged in battle – ie: at the scene of the crime – no one would fault anyone who took him out.   Now that he’s in custody and has been convicted of his crimes do we still deal with him like the enemy?