The reverberations through families like mine don’t show up in the official statistics, but they are a part of the toll of a mass shooting. Jury selection finally began April 24 for the trial of the man who is believed to have perpetrated that violence. Federal prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty. That applies even to the command in Deuteronomy 21 that mandates the death penalty for a rebellious son who does not listen to the voice of his father or mother. — a high court in Jerusalem did have the power to mete out the death penalty, though it is unclear if it ever actually used that right.

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