For at least two millennia we have known that revenge is not justice and we should forgo vengeance and seek justice.
“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” – Romans 12:19
District Attorney George Brauchler sought revenge against James Holmes. A lone member of the jury forced him to settle for justice. DA Brauchler can rationalize his pursuit of the siren’s song in seeking the execution of James Holmes however he wants, but every sane and rational person knows that the execution of James Holmes would have not resurrected a single victim; it would not have healed a single survivor’s wounds, nor diminished any of the grief or trauma. For some of the “survivors” it might have produced a faux sense of satisfaction that may have haunted them for a brief while, but knowing Holmes had been executed would have never relieved them of their pain and loss.
DA Brauchler turned down the opportunity to obtain swift justice and gambled a lot of taxpayer dollars on bolstering his political career by being the man of the Grand Old Party who executed James Holmes. But at least one juror understood that a government of the people, by the people and for the people, created to create a more perfect union, does NOT kill people who are clearly suffering from severe mental illness. This lone juror understood that vengeance is the province of the Almighty, and that we mere mortals should strive for justice.
Life in prison without any possibility of parole is certainly a just sentence for James Holmes.