"Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out"
"A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green" -- Francis Bacon
The impending execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams will probably ignite the death penalty debate again. When I was younger, I went back and forth on it. In those rare moments of grudgingly supporting it, I felt for the victims of violent crime. But as I've aged, I came to realize that we are not honoring their deaths by continuing the cycle of death.
The arguments for the death penalty simply hold no water. It is not a successful deterrent. Those who commit murders don't expect to get caught and certainly don't usually weigh the possibility of life imprisonment versus the death penalty. States without the death penalty have lower murder rates than those with it. Canada and Europe also have lower murder rates and do not have the death penalty. There are obviously other things involved in those statistics but they do seem to show it is not an effective deterrent.
One could probably make the argument that the death penalty actually causes more murders. What kind of logic posits that you will stop brutality by being brutal?
The disproportionate amount of minorities on death row illustrates that a white death is more valuable that a white one ... a rich one more than a poor one. Certainly Katrina drove that point home.
In my book, it doesn't even matter if a death row inmate has redeemed himself in his actions since being imprisoned, as it certainly appears that Williams has. It's admirable but I don't believe he deserves death regardless. The bloodlust that causes so many to look for someone to kill to pay for 9/11 drives the need for retribution ... "an eye for an eye". Someone innocent has died, so this person must die. That really is at the heart of those who support the death penalty. Even they don't really believe it stops anyone from committing a murder. They just feel that someone should be punished.
"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." -- Mohandas Mahatma Ghandi
6 comments:
I am a fence sitter on this one. There are some people that I don't think deserve to breathe air anymore. Jeffrey Dahmer - bu bye, child molesters and rapists - see ya.
But I do agree that our system of implementing sentences on convicted felons is racist, classist, and unfair.
I don't think the death penalty should be an option unless there is absolutely, positively no doubt that the person did it, and that it was an egregious enough offense to warrant death. With the growing reliability of DNA testing, this may become easier. In fact, unless someone is convicted by hard, foresnic evidence, it should not even be a sentencing choice.
Witnesses can lie, memory of traumatic events is unreliable, and coincidences and circumstansial evidence can be misinterpreted. But I'm sorry, if your blood and/or other bodily fluids are found on the victim - see ya.
Laura,
I can certainly understand that position. I certainly shed no tears when prison justice was meted out to Mr. Dahmer. If there is one type of prisoner that even other prisoners think is bad, it would be a child molestor.
I think the death penalty system is so flawed. These guys sentanced to death sit around forever. If they get the sentance, why does it take so long before they get it?
Sadie- That's one part of the system I don't disagree with. There's been too many people freed from death row after finding that they're not guilty at all, or that the jury or judge shouldn't have allowed the death sentence for the particular crime. If someone's going to die for a crime, we better be damn sure they did it - and that takes time.
Swift justice does not apply to taking a human life. They deserve their right to due process, and that includes appeals.
I am 100% against the death penalty and that quote by Gandhi is beautiful.
I agree with that Laura but for someone who totally commited the crimes by admission and everything, why are they still sittin' around?
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