On the iconic and groundbreaking 1970s CBS sitcom “All in the Family,” Edith Bunker was asked by her son-in-law, Michael “Meathead” Stivic, if she believed in capital punishment. Her reply was priceless. “As long as it isn’t too severe.”

There are those who think lethal injection was too good for John Allen Muhammad, who went to his death in Virginia on Tuesday night. There are those who think that no matter how heinous the crimes committed by Muhammad and his partner, then teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, that taking even a murderer’s life is wrong.

That Muhammad was executed is not earth-shattering news in itself. After all, Muhammad and Malvo, the infamous D.C. snipers, went on a rampage that left 10 people dead and left people in the Beltway afraid to go shopping, cut grass or even pump gas. They were — are — also suspected of fatal shootings in Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

What is noteworthy about Muhammad’s execution is that it happened barely seven years after he and Malvo were arrested in October 2002. Seven years? That’s unheard of in a day when men and women sometimes spend decades on death row as the maddening appeals process drags on and on. Families and friends of victims, wanting their pound of justice and some sense of closure, can only wring their hands as their frustration grows.

Muhammad’s execution — and the relatively short period of time he spent on death row — could grate on the nerves of East Tennesseans, it coming on the heels of recent convictions of Lemaricus Davidson and his brother, Letalvis Cobbins, in the Knoxville carjacking/rape/murder of 21-year-old Channon Christian and her 23-year-old boyfriend Christopher Newsom.

As the trial of Davidson recently unfolded in Knoxville, the families of the young couple watched emotionally in the courtroom and were vocal in the media about the anguish they were going through, and the punishment they thought he deserved.

While Cobbins and Davidson have been sentenced to death, it is unlikely they will meet their maker anytime soon. A 2004 report showed that the average amount of time a prisoner spends on death row in Tennessee is 13.22 years. A survey taken after Davidson was sentenced shows that there are currently 87 men and two women waiting to die in this state.

In the book “Dead Man Walking,” Sister Helen Prejean, an advocate for death row inmates, often talked with the families of murder victims after the executions had been carried out. She reported that the families still had the profound sense of loss and were still angry about the murders — but now that the murderer had been executed, there was no one left at whom to direct that anger.

No question, the families and friends of those victimized by the D.C. snipers cheered the execution of Muhammad earlier this week and were pleased that it took only seven years. Those on the other side no doubt feel justice would have equally have been served by allowing Muhammad to live out his life confined to a tiny jail cell 23 hours a day.

It’s a compelling debate. Where do you stand?