Orthodox rabbi Marc B. Shapiro blogs April 15, 2010:
I remember many of my Jewish friends agitating on Facebook to prevent the execution of Martin Grossman. I did not know much about the case. It seemed clear that Grossman had committed murder and therefore I felt no need to defend him from capitol punishment (which I support for the crime of murder).
Rabbi Yitzhock Adlerstein had thoughts on this case. Rabbi Adlerstein now opposes the death penalty.
Rabbi Marc B. Shapiro writes April 22, 2010:
During the discussions about the Grossman execution, I looked at some of the haredi websites (until the comments made me sick). What I found interesting was the incredible level of ignorance of most of the writers, all of whom had been in yeshiva and many of whom had studied there for years. They were able to declare that a murderer can’t be executed unless he was observed by two kosher witnesses and was given warning, which they thought settled matters. Had these people known a bit of responsa literature, there would have understood how things worked in the real world, and especially what was done in the days of the rishonim. Do these people think that if a guy stood up in shul and opened fire with a machine gun, killing 20 people, that a Jewish court couldn’t execute him because he was never given a warning?
