Michael D. Bradbury

In the following viewpoint, Michael D. Bradbury argues that criminals who commit heinous murders deserve a death sentence. Although many critics have recently claimed that arbitrary and unfair application of the death penalty warrants its abolition, capital punishment is actually quite evenhanded, the author contends. Death sentences are subject to intensive reexaminations by both state and federal courts, and the decision to execute a criminal is never made lightly. Ultimately, however, it is the right of victims that are of primary importance in criminal justice decisions, maintains Bradbury. The death penalty affirms the value of human life by executing those who murder, he concludes. Bradbury is the district attorney of Ventura County, California.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. As a district attorney, how does Bradbury arrive at a decision to seek...