Editorial: He’s a cop killer, but (unfortunately) he’s our cop killer

Issue of February 12, 2010/ 28 Shvat 5770

Martin Grossman is a killer. He was 19, hopped up on drugs and out on probation in 1984 when he killed a law enforcement officer, 26-year-old Margaret Park, in cold blood. Let’s not lose sight of that for a moment as we discuss if Grossman does or does not deserve a chance at commuting his death sentence. Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist has signed the death warrant and Grossman’s execution by lethal injection is scheduled for Feb. 16.

A very large number of Jewish organizations and a number of non-Jewish one as well — some 200 in all — have taken Grossman on as a cause (our story is here).

The heads of seven major frum organizations including Agudath Israel of America, the Orthodox Union, the Rabbinical Council of America, National Council of Young Israel, and two Satmar groups often at loggerheads with each other have each signed a very respectful, reasonable letter to Governor Crist, asking for a 60-day stay of execution so that Grossman has sufficient time to file a formal petition to have his death sentence commuted. The letter makes it clear that they do not seek a pardon; it is understood that he would spend the rest of his life in prison as punishment for committing a terrible crime, one that deeply hurt Park’s family.

“[Grossman] has transformed himself from a deeply troubled teenager into a gentle and simple man, a proud practitioner of his faith and a humble servant of his G-d,” the letter said.

Philosophically, we support the death penalty. It’s the logical conclusion, it seems to us, to a belief in personal responsibility and owning up to one’s actions. Take a life? Lose a life. It’s the balanced equation in the algebra of good citizenship. That said, the death penalty in this country is in tatters and as it happens, it was an Orthodox institution that wielded the scissors.

The Innocence Project was founded at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, law partners of OJ Simpson fame. Scheck and Neufeld and their staff use D.N.A. evidence to prove the innocence of people on death row — and by their count they’ve succeeded 17 times. 17 people sentenced to die by the hand of a U.S. state as punishment for committing a murder, who were later cleared of the charges.

Those facts must shake the confidence of anyone who believes that the death penalty is applied fairly and accurately in this country.

Some of the well-meaning people fighting for a stay for Grossman, particularly those who know him personally, would have us believe that his execution would be a purely political act. That’s a nonsensical argument that does their cause more harm than good.

Others argue that Grossman was young when he beat Officer Park with her own flashlight and shot her with her own weapon. They point out that his mental status was altered by drugs, that he had a very low I.Q. to begin with and a very difficult childhood.

Those are somewhat stronger arguments, especially for those predisposed against the death penalty.

A stronger argument, however, is that with all the misapplications of capital punishment that we have seen proved in recent years, anyone on death row who seeks 60 days to mount a fresh defense — not a frivolous or repetitious one — ought to get the time. In this case, Grossman has been on death row for 25 years; two more months won’t make much of a difference.

The final point to look at here, in our opinion, is the incontrovertible fact that if Martin Grossman were not Jewish — or perhaps if he weren’t even something of a jailhouse convert to Jewish observance, complete with a bar mitzvah photo to display — the Jewish organizations that have taken it upon themselves to extend his life wouldn’t have so much as glanced in his direction.

Is there anything wrong with that? Actually, we think not. It’s to be expected that any ethnic or religious group will first look after its own. It doesn’t make the organizations discriminatory or somehow evil. In fact, remember the source of the Innocence Project, that has helped so many wrongly condemned people, most if not all non-Jews. As noted earlier, it stems from Yeshiva University.

That provides more than sufficient moral cover, in our view, to invoke the Jewish principle of looking out for one another, and see if Martin Grossman — who by all accounts has certainly shown remorse for his terrible crime — could get the 60 days he needs to possibly convince Governor Crist that he is worthy of being permanently spared execution, in favor of life imprisonment.

So we’ve kept Grossman’s crime in mind as we discussed the effort to save him, and we’ve also not forgotten for a moment the deep pain of Margaret (Peggy) Park’s parents and siblings. We’re also not ready to give up on the death penalty altogether — there are many cases when it is clearly warranted. But at this time, in this case, a lifetime behind bars, in our view, would amply serve the cause of justice, if Governor Crist is willing to be convinced.