LETTER: DAHMER CARTOON BETRAYS CONCEPT OF A NATION UNDER LAW

To the editor:

I write in reference to the Dec. 5 editorial cartoon in which the statue of Blind Justice is depicted holding the skull of Jeffrey Dahmer on a plater with the caption, "Justice is served." That cartoon betrays the American heritage that we are a nation under law. It betrays the Christian heritage that vengeance is an unacceptable attitude.

Did you really mean to imply that the murder in prison of Dahmer was due process of law? It is undeniable that Dahmer was an irksome person who cause enormous pain to victims and families. Nevertheless, do you really believe justice is done when one person can kill another so long as the dead person was deemed by the killer to be sufficiently unpopular, bad or troublesome?

The cartoon caption really means revenge is served. That attitude is in absolute contradiction to the teachings of Jesus, who himself was killed by people who had a peculiar sense of due process and who were to say afterward, "Justice is served."

JAMES L. REYNOLDS

Charleston