Tragedy leads to fighting executions

Last week, the board of directors of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty (NYADP) named David Kaczynski as its executive director.

"David's ability to overcome personal tragedy and to join his private battle against the death penalty with our public mission is an inspiration to us all," said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who is president of the organization's board.

Firm position

In 1996, acting on information from David Kaczynski, authorities arrested his brother Theodore as the so-called Unabomber, responsible for a series of mail bombings that killed three people and injured a dozen others over 17 years.

"I always felt a personal opposition to the death penalty, even as a child," David Kaczynski said. "I instinctively felt it wasn't right. Pope John Paul II affected my thinking as well by his articulation of what the death penalty does to the people who administer it. They are harmed by it because [society is] imitating the murderer."

He considers his Buddhist beliefs to be "close to Catholic teaching on respect for human life. It's sacred."

Decision

He and his wife Linda, who live in Schenectady, "wanted to protect life because it is sacred; we wanted to do the right thing," he explained. If he remained silent, his brother might kill additional people; but if he told the police, his brother would face the death penalty.

"Throughout this family ordeal," he noted, "everything would have made more sense if the death penalty had not been a factor."

Life journey

"It's become a central issue," he said. "My passion about it has something to do with my family's experience of seeing my brother's close call with execution despite his serious mental illness."

But he rejected the notion that his job will allow him to make up for his brother's actions. "Nobody can make up for what he's done," Mr. Kaczynski said. "I have apologized for his actions and set up a fund for victims from the reward money, but that does not equal the harm done. I want the public to know that the Kaczynski family is not to be judged by the shamefulness of Ted Kaczynski's actions. We were brought up with good values, and I have tried to handle the ordeal honorably."

Opposition

He also wants people to know about the 97 people on death row who have recently been exonerated, adding that "almost certainly some innocent people have been executed. Humans make mistakes of fact and judgment. Capital punishment doesn't work; it's unjust."

He will also argue that the death penalty "keeps the cycle of violence going and continues the psychology of revenge. It's normal for humans to feel anger [when a loved one is murdered], but the government should not promote that. As a social worker and someone who has had conversations with scores of survivors of murder victims, I know the death penalty doesn't provide closure or create healing."

Strategy

He also plans to expand membership in NYADP and unite the many local groups against capital punishment into a statewide effort.

Nor does he want crime victims to be forgotten. "If we believe that the only justice is the death penalty," he explained, "it torments family members of murder victims, and ignores their genuine need for restitution, support and help."

Life imprisonment, he believes, is a far more appropriate punishment because it's "double-edged: It's severe because the person must deal with the consequences of his crime for the rest of his life, but it's also compassionate because it provides the opportunity for an individual to change and repent and make peace with a higher power."

Power of prayer

"Lots of people wrote to me and my family [during our ordeal] to say they were praying for us. That was tremendously comforting. It reminded me of the emotional and spiritual connection between human beings, and the power it has to create healing and help people who are in trouble and in pain."

(For information on New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, visit www.nyadp.org.)

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