Death Penalty Debate

Jeff Jacoby has been an op-ed columnist for the Boston Globe since February 1994.  Seeking a conservative voice to balance its famously liberal roster of commentators, the Globe hired him away from the Boston Herald, where he had been chief editorial writer since 1987.  One of his earliest columns, “The Day the Nazis Came for My Father’s Family,” described the murder of his grandparents and four of his father’s five siblings during the Holocaust. The Boston Phoenix has dubbed his twice-weekly essays "a must read," describing Mr. Jacoby as "the region's pre-eminent spokesman for Conservative Nation."  In 1999, he became the first recipient of the Breindel Prize, a major award for opinion journalism. His columns are distributed by the New York Times Syndicate, and can be read at JeffJacoby.com.  In addition to his print work, Mr. Jacoby has been a political commentator for WBUR, Boston's National Public Radio Affiliate.

In April 1995, Bud Welch's 23-year-old daughter Julie Marie was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing.  In the Months after her death, he changed from supporting the death penalty for bomber Timothy McVeigh to taking a public stance against it.  His change of heart was inspired in part by Julie Marie herself.  Once, while listening to a radio report on an execution in Texas, she had turned to him and said, "Dad, that makes me sick.  All those Texans are doing is teaching the children down there to hate."  Since then, Bud has been asked by groups all over the country to share the story of his journey.  The story has been told in publications all over the world including Time, Newsweek, USA Today, and Parade Magazine.  He has made numerous radio and television appearances, including Good Morning America, Bill Moyers, The Today Show and Dateline with Tom Brokaw