Almost 30,000 Californians have been massacred since 1995. Those killed were not just men but women and children. Many couldn't fight back as they were brutally struck down. Some were killed by gunfire. Some were stabbed in close hand-to-hand struggles.

But none were killed by insurgent IEDs or Iraqi bombs or grenades. These 30,000 Californians were not slaughtered overseas but right here in California. They were murdered. Their lives extinguished by violence as brutal as any found on an Iraqi battlefield by an army that is virtually unopposed.

Had that many Americans been killed in any one country overseas we would have invaded them by now and destroyed that army of "terrorists" and the people responsible. But at last count we have brought only 11 of these slimeballs to execution since 1995 and only 13 since 1977. For 30,000 deaths the state of California has executed but 11. How can that be called justice? Do these numbers make any sense to anyone? If we killed only 11 of the enemy in a battle while losing 30,000 Americans, those responsible would be crucified by the media and the public. And rightly so.

While we Californians are being annihilated, the North County Times says that we are not doing enough to make sure that these murderers get a respectable and peaceful death during those rare occasions that we actually kill one ("Damning review for death penalty," Editorial, Dec. 20). They say that the state must do all it can so these violent, abhorrent individuals pass on quietly and painlessly into that dark night. They say this is the humane thing to do. All the while they hint that the death penalty itself should be abandoned.

To my mind we should have executed 29,989 more since 1995. We're falling behind. Justice for killing a mother, child, husband, brother or sister should be death. And that death should be every bit as horrible as the one experienced by the victim.

The tragedy is not that murderers are executed. The tragedy is that people like the editors of the NCT characterize the status of justice in this state as not being humane enough for the murderer. They do not care to understand the torment of the victim or the families of these victims. They care not about us, the future victims. They care more about keeping their holier-than-thou image because that makes them feel good. They feel a need to extend their mercy to every last coldblooded murderer. They feel good while the rest of us continue to be slaughtered.

Justice would be best served if more murderers were executed and more of the press coverage be dedicated to the victim and what the loss of that victim's life meant to the community and to the rest of us. During an execution audio and video of the victim laughing with friends and family should be played for all the attendees to see and hear. And instead of reporting how a miserable animal was put to death, try reporting how an innocent victim was remembered.

- John Cusumano lives in Escondido.