As long as the justice system is run by politicians whose reelection depends upon a body count, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as standards such as "egregious" and "monster" are left up to humans to decide, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as people make judgments based upon the color of someone's skin, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as the system can be rigged, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as there is something to be gained by anyone involved, whether it is "closure" for the victims, fame for the prosecutor, ratings for the media, or power for the politicians, we should not have the death penalty. Some otherwise social-justice-oriented folks among us say that the death penalty is allowable, even worthwhile, so long as the standard for imposing it is "beyond reasonable doubt." But as long as the death penalty exists, there will always be someone who has a motivation to move that line of "reasonable doubt" one way or the other to suit their purposes. It appears that someone may have done exactly that in Troy Davis's case.
At the same time that Troy Davis was scheduled to be executed, the state of Texas proudly put down Lawrence Russell, a white supremacist who chained James Byrd, Jr., to the back of a truck and dragged him along the road until all that remained of Mr. Byrd was shredded meat. It was brutal. Inhuman. Insufferable. I do not want anyone who would do such a thing to live among the rest of us. But what I want is not the point. When dispensing justice, we cannot be driven by how pissed off we are. Otherwise, we would break an arm for a broken arm. We would rape to pay back for rape. We would torture as justice for torture. There are societies that do that. But we don’t. Why? Because, we say, we are better than that. But we do not appear to be better than this, do we?
I am not insensitive to Mark MacPhail’s family’s pain. But if executing a potentially innocent man will bring his family peace, then it comes at the expense of our own collective humanity, and that is asking too much. It is done in our name. But despite the bravado with which some cheer the dispensing of this ultimate "penalty," I wonder if, like jury duty, we handed over the switch, the trigger, the needle, the bullet, to those of us in whose name this is done, how many of us would actually follow through? Asking the prison officials to do it for us instead is a convenient form of cowardice that I want no part of.
Please do not do this “in my name.” It diminishes me. It diminishes us all.
As long as standards such as "egregious" and "monster" are left up to humans to decide, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as people make judgments based upon the color of someone's skin, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as the system can be rigged, we should not have the death penalty.
As long as there is something to be gained by anyone involved, whether it is "closure" for the victims, fame for the prosecutor, ratings for the media, or power for the politicians, we should not have the death penalty. Some otherwise social-justice-oriented folks among us say that the death penalty is allowable, even worthwhile, so long as the standard for imposing it is "beyond reasonable doubt." But as long as the death penalty exists, there will always be someone who has a motivation to move that line of "reasonable doubt" one way or the other to suit their purposes. It appears that someone may have done exactly that in Troy Davis's case.
At the same time that Troy Davis was scheduled to be executed, the state of Texas proudly put down Lawrence Russell, a white supremacist who chained James Byrd, Jr., to the back of a truck and dragged him along the road until all that remained of Mr. Byrd was shredded meat. It was brutal. Inhuman. Insufferable. I do not want anyone who would do such a thing to live among the rest of us. But what I want is not the point. When dispensing justice, we cannot be driven by how pissed off we are. Otherwise, we would break an arm for a broken arm. We would rape to pay back for rape. We would torture as justice for torture. There are societies that do that. But we don’t. Why? Because, we say, we are better than that. But we do not appear to be better than this, do we?
I am not insensitive to Mark MacPhail’s family’s pain. But if executing a potentially innocent man will bring his family peace, then it comes at the expense of our own collective humanity, and that is asking too much. It is done in our name. But despite the bravado with which some cheer the dispensing of this ultimate "penalty," I wonder if, like jury duty, we handed over the switch, the trigger, the needle, the bullet, to those of us in whose name this is done, how many of us would actually follow through? Asking the prison officials to do it for us instead is a convenient form of cowardice that I want no part of.
Please do not do this “in my name.” It diminishes me. It diminishes us all.
