Letter: District attorney licking its chops over Williams

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

Another young person, under $5 million bond, sits in jail while our "justice system" ratchets up to extract the people's righteous vengeance. Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker purported to speak for the bereaved families when he said that if the parents of the victims were asked, they would surely say that the perpetrator should be eligible for the death penalty.

If Jessica Williams, with premeditation and malice, aimed her car into the median and killed six people, then the full weight of the law should rightfully be brought to bear.

It is more likely that this was a terrible accident; that she fell asleep and lost control. It is something that could happen to any of us who must drive to survive; something that does happen with regularity. If she had been drinking, Williams' fate would be sealed. Since she apparently was not drunk but admitted to smoking marijuana, this accident can still be elevated to the level of a heinous crime.

Our lamentable Legislature, with absolutely no scientific basis, has deemed that two nanograms of marijuana in the bloodstream indicates the difference between an accident and murder.

The joy in the DA's office must be unbridled. Booker does not have to defend a policy where children were placed by the side of the freeway without the protections that would normally be afforded state highway workers or contractors. He can instead exploit the grief of the families by making inappropriate and inflammatory statements. He wants what our entire nation seems to want these days -- not justice, but revenge.

If he seeks the death penalty for Williams, he could demand that her sentence be community service -- picking up trash by the side of the road.

JOHN HENRY MELANCON