| society, the time has come to take a major stand | | | | definitions of justice and healing do not necessarily |
| against revenge and hatred. It is time to look at the | | | | match those of the mass media or the court |
| other side of the card, the side filled with peace and | | | | systems. To think that yet another person would die |
| respect. It's time to rethink capital punishment, to | | | | and another family would suffer is haunting to them. |
| recognize that our futures hinge on change and on | | | | Another death would not equal justice, bring about |
| recognition that life is more precious than death. | | | | closure, or promote healing. Many consider capital |
| To reach such a destination, we might first ask what | | | | punishment a disservice to the victims and their |
| motivates us to allow America to stand as the only | | | | families; that it victimizes and re-victimizes everyone |
| Western democracy to utilize death as a form of | | | | involved in the process. |
| punishment. Bringing about another person's violent | | | | 4) Murderers deserve death. |
| end does nothing to solve our own problems. It does | | | | No one deserves to be a victim of state-sanctioned |
| not resolve the issue of losing a loved one. It does | | | | murder. A government that metes out vengeance |
| nothing to heal the fabric of divine connectivity that | | | | veiled as justice becomes a complicit partner in killing |
| is a part of each one of us. To learn to respect life | | | | and devaluing human dignity. We should reject the |
| as being more important than death, we might first | | | | principle of doing to criminals what they're accused of |
| want to reconsider seven fallacies that are used to | | | | doing to their victims. If the penalty for rape is not |
| support the death penalty. | | | | rape, and we don’t burn down an arsonist's |
| 1) There are no reasonable alternatives to death. | | | | house, murder should not be punished by murdering |
| This is what prisons are built for. Not for non-violent | | | | the accused. |
| drug offenders, but for convicted killers who can be | | | | 5) There is no arbitrariness or discrimination in death |
| sentenced to life imprisonment. This is what most | | | | sentencing. |
| states that have already abolished the death penalty | | | | It is actually just the opposite. Poor people and |
| do with their convicted killers. They maintain laws | | | | people of color are far more likely to receive the |
| that allow life sentences for murder that either limit | | | | death sentence than those who can afford the high |
| or eliminate the possibility of parole. Studies have | | | | costs of expert criminal lawyers, psychiatrists, and |
| shown that Americans support alternatives to capital | | | | private investigators. Capital punishment is a privilege |
| punishment. When presented with the facts about | | | | of the poor. Studies have proven racial disparities in |
| crimes for which death is a possible sentence, most | | | | the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death |
| people choose life imprisonment without parole as a | | | | penalty. Blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities' death |
| reasonable alternative to the death penalty. | | | | sentences are wildly disproportionate to their |
| Prosecutors and juries have even gotten into the act | | | | percentages in the general population. According to |
| by rejecting lethal injection in favor of life without | | | | Justice Department figures, nearly 80 percent of |
| parole. Since 2000, juries have decided against death | | | | inmates on federal death row are minorities. |
| in two out of every three sentencing trials. | | | | People who kill whites are far more likely to receive |
| 2) Capital punishment deters crime. | | | | death than those whose victims were of color. Blacks |
| There exists no credible proof that the death penalty | | | | convicted of killing whites have by far the greatest |
| is a more effective deterrent to potential criminals | | | | chance of receiving death. Despite accounting for |
| than other forms of punishment. There is no causal | | | | twelve percent of the population, blacks make up |
| link between use of the death penalty and the | | | | 35% of those who have been executed for their |
| murder rate. In fact, studies indicate just the | | | | crimes and 42% of all death row inmates. |
| opposite. During the last decade, states without the | | | | 6) Only the guilty are executed. |
| death penalty fared much better than states with | | | | Hundreds of people in dozens of states have been |
| the death penalty in reducing their murder rates. This | | | | released from death row due to their proven |
| resulted while the chasm between the murder rate in | | | | innocence. Others have been executed even though |
| death penalty states and non-death penalty states | | | | they were innocent. A major Stanford Law Review |
| grew larger. Since 1976, for example, when the death | | | | article documents hundreds of cases this century |
| penalty was reinstated, the state of Texas has | | | | where it was later proven that the alleged killer had |
| executed over 300 individuals, yet Texas appears no | | | | not committed the underlying offense. Dozens of |
| safer with regards to crime than any other state, | | | | those convicts were executed while others spent |
| including the thirteen states that do not have capital | | | | decades in prison. In nearly every case, the only |
| punishment. | | | | reason the errors in prosecution and criminal |
| The underlying statistics indicate that most who kill | | | | investigation were unveiled was due to the work of |
| actually give little thought to the possible | | | | third-party individuals and groups investigating the |
| consequences of their actions. Most homicides result | | | | cases, not by the appeals process. A criminal justice |
| from heat of passion, alcohol or drug use, or were | | | | system run by human beings cannot be made |
| committed by mentally ill people, many of whom had | | | | infallible. Executions of innocent persons will continue |
| sought treatment before the commission of their | | | | so long as the death penalty remains. |
| crimes but were denied long-term care. On the other | | | | 7) Executions do not violate human rights. |
| hand, those who planned their killings generally | | | | This simply misstates the truth. Capital punishment is |
| intended to avoid punishment altogether. And in so | | | | cruel and inhumane and executions violate the |
| doing, they gave no consideration whatsoever to | | | | convict's right to be free from cruel and unusual |
| ending up on death row as a result of their acts. | | | | punishment. Executions are not painless. The history |
| 3) Death is necessary as just retribution for a victim's | | | | of capital punishment is filled with examples of |
| family. | | | | painfully botched executions that are terribly |
| Bud Welch's daughter, Julie Marie Welch, died in the | | | | degrading. |
| Oklahoma City bombing. He grieved, as any parent | | | | Petty-thieves are no longer hanged from local street |
| losing a child would grieve, but he took no solace in | | | | corners for public display for very good reasons. |
| seeking revenge against her killer. "The death penalty | | | | Capital punishment is immoral in principle, barbaric in |
| is about revenge and hate, and revenge and hate is | | | | nature, and uncivilized in practice. The death penalty |
| why my daughter and those 167 other people are | | | | assures that innocent people will die. It has no |
| dead today." | | | | purpose and no constructive social impact, and it |
| Reconciliation means accepting that a family cannot | | | | must be abolished as a way of bringing humanity and |
| undo the murder; but they can decide how they | | | | compassion back into the forefront of our society. |
| want to live their lives afterwards. A victim's family's | | | | |