Rutter: Paula Cooper could not escape the burden of judgment - Chicago Tribune
Two million petitioners, plus Pope John Paul II, had asked Indiana to spare her life. But Indiana seemed as committed to her death in the electric chair as she had been in killing an elderly Gary teacher in 1986. The Supreme Court soon ruled that 16 was too young to execute anyone in America. so Paula Cooper was spared. But Cooper could not spare herself. She had been freed from prison two years ago. Cooper's sister, Rhonda Labroi, told reporters two years ago that she had high hopes for her sister who earned a bachelor's degree, became a tutor and seemingly matured in prison. "She's a very different person," Labroi told Indianapolis reporters. There are second chances. I think if people give her a second chance, she'll do fine. Because many states — Indiana being one of them — execute killers with diminishing regularity in the 21st century, we are tempted to exaggerate our temperance. Those who remember the heinous brutality of some crimes might think the killer has escaped punishment by escaping execution. Though rates have fallen significantly in the last 20 years, suicide remains among the predominant causes of death in both local jails and state prisons. Young inmates kill themselves most frequently. Source: www.chicagotribune.com
