The Death Penalty
There are a number of contentious issues that have been part of our political discussion for years, regardless of which party is in power. There are reasons these issues don’t go away. First, opinions on all sides are deeply felt and enduring, and second, definitive solutions are beyond the strength and will of politicians. The death penalty is one of the most enduring of these issues.
Our legal system may be among the best the world has ever seen, but it isn’t infallible. We all know that, regardless of how we feel about the death penalty. One glaring fallacy in the system is the fact that justice, plainly put, is for sale. Not usually because of corruption, but because those who can buy the best lawyers have a better chance of winning. That means the ultimate outcome of the system, death, falls most often on those who have the least money.
Even if our system could be improved to eliminate the effect of class and money, it still wouldn’t be perfect. Mistakes will be made because human beings are involved. That means that innocent people will be killed by the state. Once that killing has taken place, correcting errors is meaningless.
Finally, there’s the morality of it. From my first days in basic training in the Army, I was taught that soldiers don’t kill prisoners who do not present a threat. If that’s morally correct, and it is, then how can we permit the state to kill its prisoners? The question is not whether captured enemy soldiers should have a right to live, while convicted murderers should not. The question is whether the state, acting through its soldiers or its courts, should have the authority to kill people in its custody.
Personal feelings and public policy are too often confused in debates over issues like this. I personally feel little sympathy for enemy soldiers on the battlefield or for people who commit murder and other capital crimes. And yes, I would not hesitate to blow away anyone who was in the act of committing one of these crimes. Nor would I lose any sleep over it. But those are gut feelings, animal reactions. Public policy is another matter. It must be made on a rational basis, separate from the cold fury of emotion and the bitter demand for righteous vengeance.
I’m against the death penalty, at least until it doesn’t matter how much money an accused person has and the legal system doesn’t make mistakes. And even in the unlikely event these problems are solved, I doubt I’ll ever be able to accept that our social contract should include empowering the state to kill us.
(This article was also posted at Opinion Forum.)
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*their debt, apologies
But Choice, what about the money spent on exhaustive appeals by someone up for the death penalty? What about the innocent who get killed?
Imagine again, and think of a better solution.If even one person dies by a state sanctioned killing, then it isn’t worth it.
And for the record, I agree.I want them(the undesirable trio of rapist, murderer, and pedophile)killed instead of enjoying the benefits of a tuition free education, but it isn’t cut out to be that way.And California isn’t releasing the worst case offenders on the list but those in for smaller crimes.Yes, crimes can and often do escalate with an individual, so let’s come up with a better solution.
And while I would not welcome any undesirable into my neighborhood with open arms,in the eyes of the state that you see so fit to sanction the death of an inmate under their care, they have paid their death to society. There needs to be better plans to reintroduce them back into society as functioning and responsible adults.Will it work for some?No. But we need to not punish and abandon but reeducate and try to get through to some.
It is without doubt a very good article, the way I look at it is that when you take out the money angle and legal mistakes you are left with murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and drug dealers who have been caught redhanded as it were, these people have no excuse and have been caught, this then allows us to deal with them in a logical manner and the fact is that they are not contributing to society but rather causing a massive drain on resources(Prison inmates cost the taxpayer based on a national average $24,656 per year for 2008) which could be used in some many other positive ways that it’s ridiculous. Because of this those who are clearly culpable should be dealt with swiftly, say 6-12 months in which to get their affairs in order(not hanging around for decades running appeal after appeal often at the expense of society(tax, etc), then they should be swiftly executed(give them a choice if you want). I know that pedophiles, drug dealers and rapists don’t come under the heading of executable, but frankly I beleive they should(I have seen some of the damage they leave behind). One of the scariest things to consider is that places like california have been told to release up to about 60,000 convicts due to overcrowding(this means that the parole boards are forced to consider allowing back into society some that they wouldn’t even normally look at), if you remove that most dangerous part of the prison population from the equation, not only do you ease the strain on the prison system and remove dangerous criminals from society, but you also make a clear message for those who are thinking about doing such things. The message would be very clear “step over this line and you are gone, society will not tolerate you”. Whilst no doubt there will be a lot of you saying how cruel or whatever bear this in mind, will you welcome with open arms the murderer, pedophile, rapist or drug dealer into your neighbourhood, perhaps next door to you and your loved ones? Would you ever feel safety for you and you loved ones again in that situation? Yes it may well be cruel in the eyes of some, but unless you have a better solution that doesn’t put society at risk or increase the financial burden of those who have to pay higher and higher taxes to care for a person whom they have never met or dealt with, let alone be involved in their crime, then you must consider that a lawfull and correct execution be justified.
If I have it correct the current prison population for the usa is about 2.3 million (about 1.5-2% of the population of the usa) and rising, remove the worst offenders and not only would that number drop dramatically but also those tempted would be less likely to do the crime, therefore slowing the prison population increase.
The cost to the taxpayer in the usa for 2008 was about $567,088,000,000 across the nation.
Imagine what even half of that would do for the public good in one form or another.
Well said. I completely agree. Thanks for sharing your well reasoned thoughts, Tom.
I find it hard to argue with that.