An Oklahoma judge today decided that probable cause exists to try Terry Nichols on 160 counts of murder in state court in Oklahoma.

Nichols is serving a life sentence without as a result of a federal trial on charges of conspiring to kill 8 federal officers in the OKC bombing. Our view: The state prosecution is a waste of time and recources and serves no purpose other than satisfaction of the victims' misguided desire for vengence.

Oklahoma is facing a $678 million budget shortfall. Teachers are being laid off, health care is in crisis mode. It has cost the state over 2 million to defend Nichols in state court to this point. No surprise that the the prosecution costs have not been released. But here's a guidepost: The feds spent $82 million investigating and prosecuting McVeigh. The defense spent $15 million ot defend him.

Re-trying Nichols will waste scarce state resources. This prosecution is an exercise in vengence, pure and simple. Some of the victims agree.

"We have teachers being laid off right and left. Our health care system is in shambles. And we're going to try someone who's going to spend the rest of his life in prison," said Jim Denny, whose two children were injured in the bombing.

All we can say is we hope journalists stay on top of the costs of this prosecution--we don't want one penny of our federal tax dollars going towards the state prosecution. In 1996, a federal judge removed the federal case from Oklahoma to Denver because Nichols couldn't get a fair trial in Oklahoma. Nothing has changed. The arrogance of a few local politicians deciding that Oklahoma's honor demands the ultimate penalty, regardless of a federal jury deciding otherwise, is deplorable.

A death verdict against Terry Nichols in Oklahoma state court carries no credibility in our view. Let's recognize it for what it really is--an attempt to commit state-sanctioned murder. Shame on Oklahoma and its district attorneys. Maybe if they used the money earmarked for prosecuting Nichols for disaster relief to repair damage from recent tornados, our precious federal dollars wouldn't have to go be directed there.