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Your e-mails: The verdict on Moussaoui sentence

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Relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks react after the Zacarias Moussaoui jury reached a verdict Wednesday.

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(CNN) -- Zacarias Moussaoui is the first person convicted in the United States for his role in the 9/11 attacks. On the seventh day of deliberations, jurors returned with a verdict of life in prison without parole, rejecting the U.S. government's request Moussaoui be executed.

He remained defiant Thursday as a judge sentenced him for his role in the terrorist conspiracy.

CNN asked readers to e-mail their thoughts on the Moussaoui verdict. Here is a sampling of those responses, some of which have been edited. (Do you have a thought? Send it in.)

I feel he should have received death. It has been a waste of money and time. I am sick of seeing news about him on TV. I would like to see more news of a positive impact. If you keep his face on TV, you will only be feeding his ego. That is exactly what he wants.
Erma Davis, Looneyville, West Virginia

I think he should be cryogenically frozen. It is cheaper than feeding him and paying for his cable bill for the next 60 years. If you execute him, he will end up feeling like he got something from it for his own gain. If you keep him locked in a box for ever, we'll spend $3 million on investigations into his allegations of abuse. Put a sock in his mouth and put him in the freezer. If in the future there is some sort of reason to unfreeze him, fine, do it then.
Matt, Greenville, South Carolina

The man committed no crime. America is frustrated and took revenge on this poor sap who not only did not commit any crime but who is certifiably insane. Now we are going to lock him up in solitary for the rest of his life; we might as well kill him. If this is justice, God help us. What has happened to my country?
Martin, New York

Execution would have been a peaceful solution for this man; those who were killed were engulfed in flames, sent plunging downward amid tons of rubble or died in other excruciating fashions. A proponent of executions or not, the fact is the first drug renders the person unconscious; they are not even aware of the second or third drugs. (The last one stops the heart.) That wouldn't have been an appropriate punishment -- an easy way out compared to any victims of terror. He deserves to live in a cell, frustrated by the fact that he is powerless to inflict any harm. The terrorists live for that. Let him feel the frustration of knowing millions of Americans know he is powerless. Let him sit there, mind churning, and unable to do a thing about it. And he will probably know fear. Those in our institutions are there for a variety of reasons. Many are very patriotic. Enough said.
Cathie L., Pensacola, Florida

I feel this is the perfect sentence. To me, death is an easy cop-out. Solitary confinement for the rest of his life will be more painful than what hell has to offer. The purpose for solitary confinement is to impact the prisoner's mental state. Have that for 40-plus years, and he will wish he was dead.
Karen W., Omaha, Nebraska

I am ambivalent regarding the sentencing of Mr. Moussaoui. I feel the American people have paid enough for this man, his crimes and the trial. The death penalty would be too easy a punishment, but it would be fitting for the crime. Unfortunately, the death penalty would grant him his wish ... martyrdom. So life in prison paid for by the blood, sweat and money of U.S. citizens may be a better punishment. I don't think I will ever feel closure on 9/11 until we truly rid the world of terrorism.
David, Canton, Massachusetts

We're too soft. We're never going to win a "war on terror" or any other war decisively by being nice, the good guy, wanting people to like us. [Commentator] Shelby Steele's got it right; we suffer from "white guilt," which imposes a "minimalist" approach on military actions and less effective protective or defensive measures at airports, railroads, etc., where we query an old Irish lady in a wheelchair while those who ethnically relate to the 9/11 group walk on by.
Robert Williams, Orlando, Florida

I think that the jury made the wrong choice. This man contributed to destroying our lives, community, families and economy. Now we are to support him for years while we wait for him to die. I would rather have paid for the electricity or chemicals to give him the death sentence instead of the prison sentence.
Brian, Crestview, Florida

It's a shame that our tax dollars will now provide a murdering terrorist with food, shelter and medical care for the rest of his life. Working directly across the river from the towers on 9/11, fielding phone calls for weeks to our hospital from family members looking for their loved ones and being with my best friend as she watched the towers fall with her son inside on the 103rd Floor will remain with me forever. It's time the U.S. stopped playing "nice guy" and dole out justice instead. We've all been victims long enough. God Bless America, the families of 9/11 and all our troops around the world.
Marian Jekonski, Hawthorne, New Jersey

I don't agree with the jury's sentencing. I believe Moussaoui should have received the death penalty. We send our troops over to Iraq to get rid of men like this, risking their own lives. Then we let this enemy live. Our troops must think, "What's the purpose? Why risk our lives if our own country doesn't care?"
Jessie Heuer, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

The system worked. It is a just sentence. The closing of this case does not, however, give me a sense of closure on 9/11 -- capturing and sentencing Osama [bin Laden] will.
Suzy Flowers, Ligonier, Pennsylvania

I think Moussaoui has been allowed to make a mockery of our judicial system. It is preposterous to think that Moussaoui's sentence is "just." Our judicial system has allowed an admitted terrorist to publicly taunt and mock the American people while expressing pride for his role in the vicious attack on our country that killed nearly 3,000 of our fellow Americans. How do you tell the American people that their tax dollars will contribute to the well-being of a convicted terrorist who wants them dead? One can hardly feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of this trial, let alone a sense of "closure" on 9/11. Don't even get me started on the Saddam Hussein trial.
Ben Havens, Lake Crystal, Minnesota

I have a very torn feeling concerning the sentence handed down to this murderer. On one hand, he deserves death. He wants death. With the sentence being life in prison, I will be paying for him to sleep warmly and likely comfortably for the remainder of his life. We have people in this country that deserve the luxuries that he will receive as a murderer. On the other hand, if he was put to death, he would look like a martyr to people with his same beliefs. As far as the system working, I believe it did not. He should never have gotten a trial by jury. He does not deserve the rights of an American citizen. The closing of this case does nothing to give me closure on 9/11. Kill bin Laden and those who follow him and play a part in his actions, then bring our troops home. That will give me as much closure as is possible on 9/11.
Bobby Breland, Hernando, Mississippi

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