Death Penalty

There's been another state-sponsored death--this time in California. The victim was a gang leader who supposedly saw the error of his ways and spent his years on Death Row writing children's books and generally promoting a more positive approach to life than the one he espoused during his gang days. Some opponents of this execution cited Stanley Tookie Williams' turn-around as a reason to not execute him. And, while well meaning, they have it all wrong. Whether or not someone deserves the death penalty, or merits clemency in the application of that penalty, is not the issue.

Rather, the real issue is that the death penalty itself, and not its application, is wrong, wrong, wrong. It is unconstitutional, violating the prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment." It makes us an outlaw among "civilized" nations, putting us among the ranks of places like Saudi Arabia, Singapore, China, and other monuments to barbarism. It weakens us as a culture, making us vengeful and petty. It is very expensive to administer. It has been demonstrated that the application of the death penalty is often based on incorrect evidence, poor lawyering, and racism. The list of reasons to abolish the death penalty is huge.

The reasons to keep it are few, and can easily dismissed. It has been shown that there is no deterrent effect. Many victims' families say that that the death of the perpetrator of the crime does not bring them relief.

And then there's the incredible inconsistency in the arguments. The proponents of the death penalty are often the same folks who beat their breasts about the right to life and the evils of the pro-choice movement. If life is so sacred at its beginning, what possible reason can there be for making an exception to end it at the behest of the state? There's some real faulty logic going on, as well as a sickening pandering to our most base instincts. Just because a few individuals would like revenge doesn't mean that we as a society should accomodate them--it has been shown that there is no social benefit, and a lot of social cost.