I just sent this email to the Governor:
With all due respect to the office of Governor,
Although the information you quote may or may not be as accurate as you provide, the fact is that the “boy” at the time was not in his right mind, neither at the time of the crime nor any immediate time thereafter. He was a product of a dysfunctional home, a dysfunctional individual on self-medicating drugs to numb his own pain. He did not commit a pre-meditated crime although he did commit a horrific crime. He did not have the intention that night to go out and hurt someone although that was the result of his going out that evening. Kids on drugs do not think clearly and their reactions to fear and confrontation is not to back down quietly and submit, quite the opposite. Listing the details of the attack does not change the facts which you did not list in reference to the current victim which is Martin himself.
No one asked for his release. No one asked for his pardon. No one asked that he be forgiven or excused. However, we all asked, including the Pope himself, that he be understood or at least his circumstances be understood, and he be allowed to live imprisoned and confined for the rest of his life. Prison is not a vacation and it is not a resort as we all know. So life in prison is quite a punishment. Having no freedom, no privacy and very little privilege other than what you earn on your own from your own appropriate behaviors, is an appropriate penalty for taking the life of another individual and that is why most states abolished the death penalty.
It was in your hands whether or not to allow this man to be killed and you played G-d. But you are not G-d, you are a human being. No excuse me, that is giving you too much credit. YOU are a politician who cares more about staying in office and pleasing your future supporters. But what you forgot to take into account is that many of your constituents are Jewish and Catholic. They will not forget that the Pope got involved and asked you for clemency. They will also not forget just how many people begged for mercy for this individual who was not a premeditated murderer but a rehabilitated prisoner.
Governor Crist, I just want you to remember when you do lose the election that YOU are not in charge, G-D is. People do make mistakes in their lifetime and this might have been the biggest mistake you will have made in your entire career. I know that Mr. Grossman will rest in peace from now on, but how will you knowing that you put this man to death?
With sincere regret,
A very disappointed individual.