Buddhists protest death sentence.

• Author: Vanderpool, Tim
• Position: Johnathan Doody case

Last July, the Maricopa County Attorney's office convicted a pair of teenagers in the 1991 slaying of nine Thai Buddhist monks in their Phoenix Wat Promkunaram temple. One of the boys dodged the death penalty by pleading guilty and testifying against his friend. The other, nineteen-year-old Johnathan Doody, now may face execution.

Rather than being pleased with this outcome, the international Buddhist community is advocating mercy for Doody. "We do not believe in the death penalty of any kind," says Mettanando Bhikku, a monk and visiting professor at Harvard. "We don't believe in revenge. We believe that corrections can be made in person."

That position has placed Arizona's law-and-order types in an ironic bind. Maricopa County Prosecutor Richard Romley, who continues pushing for Doody's execution, has seen his usual bloodlust constituency evaporate. Under Arizona's Victim's Rights law, friends and family of the victims can appear in court to call for harsh justice, buttressing the prosecutor's position. This time, however, the aggrieved are urging just the opposite.

Romley's position nonetheless remains firm...