I see both tragedies as two sides of the same coin. In both cases the emphasis was on punishment for the convict rather than the good of society.
Williams’ execution served no purpose even if he was guilty, and Ozment’s time in prison focused on punishing him for his earlier crimes instead of preparing him to reintegrate into post-prison life as a peaceful or productive citizen.
If either of those men had been convicted in (for example) Norway then odds are that they’d be alive and living non-violent lives right now.
The problem is convincing Americans that we should want a system that is focused on helping reduce violent crime instead of a system that is focused on brutalizing criminals.
