An execution is a sobering event that should be handled with dignity and professionalism. A life has been taken as justice for a crime committed. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's use of Twitter to pontificate just prior to the execution of convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner last week was appalling. He took a very serious moment and politicized it with opinionated, inappropiate comments.
Shurtleff's tweet "... May God grant him (Gardner) the mercy he denied his victims" was foolish, even risible. The attorney general behaved like a stereotype of a cynical pol trying to gain points for toughness against crime. To us, it seemed like something a tactless prosecutor/politician in a John Grisham law novel would say.
We agree with Utah Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, who told our newspaper's editorial board that Shurtleff's death penalty tweets were "amateurish."
The attorney general has received widespread condemnation for his inappropriate tweets. He issued this comment via twitter afterward: "I believe in an informed public. As elected official I use social media to communicate directly with people."
Shurtleff just doesn't get it. We believe in an informed public, too. We use social media to communicate with many readers as well. We have reporters who tweet from news events. When it comes to getting the news out, Twitter is an important tool that should be used to inform, not to pontificate or politicize an event.
Gardner shot to death two men. He also wounded a law enforcement officer. The families of Gardner's victims have suffered for a quarter of a century. If Shurtleff wants to opine about God granting mercy to the murderer, do it at a news conference, not in a tweet where he can enjoy the instant gratification of his deep thoughts.
Better yet, let the victims' families express those thoughts first. His actions, as mentioned, provided a moment of inappropriate foolishness to a serious conclusion of a long pursuit of justice.
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