 | Dawn Turner Trice |
Death penalty's flaws kill any hint of justice
Published January 8, 2007
A couple of days before Saddam Hussein's hanging, I was in a discussion about whether his execution should be delayed for the sake of justice. After a couple of minutes of debate, I said impulsively, "Hang him."
It was one of those what-came-up-came-out moments, and my words gave me and a few others pause.
"Hang him?"
I've always been against the death penalty. I applauded ex-Gov. George Ryan when he signed the executive order seven years ago this month that placed a moratorium on executions in Illinois. I've long believed that a civilized society couldn't mete out capital punishment and still define itself as civilized.
So, after my comment, I began to wonder if in recent years or months I'd just become jaded in regard to crime fighting. Had the stories of people who cut babies out of the wombs of pregnant women finally done a number on me? What about the stories of parents who drowned their own children; or evil dictators who exterminated thousands of their countrymen?
The human capacity to kill, maim, destroy in new and ever-haunting ways has proved boundless. And, after a while, even the most certain death-penalty opponent may begin to wonder whether the foulest of perpetrators deserve to occupy space on the planet.
That sentiment is not out of the ordinary for a human being. But the state has to be different. The state argues that it's a neutral arbiter that can make such a weighty decision.
But that can never be the case.
Capital punishment has to be carried out by human beings. And human beings are flawed creatures with limitations. Who among us is capable of fairly carrying out an execution that would do a democracy justice?
The Tribune has written extensively about our flawed system with its wrongful convictions: the police and prosecutorial misconduct, the coerced confessions, hidden evidence, junk science and forensic experts who theorize wrongly. It's a system that defies reform on many fronts, even with videotaped confessions and DNA testing.
The death penalty has neither shown itself an effective tool in deterring crime nor salve for the loved ones of victims. Perhaps on some level, the death penalty feels good for a brief moment. But I can't imagine it's sustainable. We know that grief is a complicated beast and no one thing makes the pain, hatred or anger recede.
We witnessed the channeling of hatred that accompanied Hussein's final moments in the gallows. We saw the people taunting him. It was argued that his execution would avenge the deaths of his many victims. But will it? It hasn't quelled the violence in Iraq. In fact, it may exacerbate it.
I am no apologist for Hussein. But watching the gruesome and grainy cell-phone images of him being put to death reminds us of just how barbaric capital punishment is. Perhaps that's why in this country, executions are often carried out under cover of darkness, often deep in the bowels of a prison where most of us can experience them in an almost benign, hermetic way.
Still, carrying out a murder is no less dreadful when it is justified by state sanction. The 8th Amendment of the Constitution is not the only reason several states have placed the death penalty on hold as they examine whether lethal injections make for cruel and unusual punishment. Most of our consciences remain unsettled when we empower the execution.
Even before Illinois' moratorium, the death penalty was used sparingly. (New Jersey, which is considering abolishing its death penalty, hasn't executed anyone in more than 40 years.)
"In Illinois, when the vast majority of heinous cases are being handled with life sentences, you have to wonder if those death-penalty cases are purely symbolic," said Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The death penalty is revenge masquerading as justice. Hussein's execution reminds us of that. As a society, we are not made whole by administering it or adjusting our methods over the centuries, whether firing squad, electrocution, lethal injection or lynching.
No matter how many times we have performed this heinous act, it has never altered our sense of right and wrong. And no democracy, fledgling or otherwise, has ever been able to kill anyone in a manner befitting the true spirit of justice.
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dtrice@tribune.com
It was one of those what-came-up-came-out moments, and my words gave me and a few others pause.
"Hang him?"
I've always been against the death penalty. I applauded ex-Gov. George Ryan when he signed the executive order seven years ago this month that placed a moratorium on executions in Illinois. I've long believed that a civilized society couldn't mete out capital punishment and still define itself as civilized.
So, after my comment, I began to wonder if in recent years or months I'd just become jaded in regard to crime fighting. Had the stories of people who cut babies out of the wombs of pregnant women finally done a number on me? What about the stories of parents who drowned their own children; or evil dictators who exterminated thousands of their countrymen?
The human capacity to kill, maim, destroy in new and ever-haunting ways has proved boundless. And, after a while, even the most certain death-penalty opponent may begin to wonder whether the foulest of perpetrators deserve to occupy space on the planet.
That sentiment is not out of the ordinary for a human being. But the state has to be different. The state argues that it's a neutral arbiter that can make such a weighty decision.
But that can never be the case.
Capital punishment has to be carried out by human beings. And human beings are flawed creatures with limitations. Who among us is capable of fairly carrying out an execution that would do a democracy justice?
The Tribune has written extensively about our flawed system with its wrongful convictions: the police and prosecutorial misconduct, the coerced confessions, hidden evidence, junk science and forensic experts who theorize wrongly. It's a system that defies reform on many fronts, even with videotaped confessions and DNA testing.
The death penalty has neither shown itself an effective tool in deterring crime nor salve for the loved ones of victims. Perhaps on some level, the death penalty feels good for a brief moment. But I can't imagine it's sustainable. We know that grief is a complicated beast and no one thing makes the pain, hatred or anger recede.
We witnessed the channeling of hatred that accompanied Hussein's final moments in the gallows. We saw the people taunting him. It was argued that his execution would avenge the deaths of his many victims. But will it? It hasn't quelled the violence in Iraq. In fact, it may exacerbate it.
I am no apologist for Hussein. But watching the gruesome and grainy cell-phone images of him being put to death reminds us of just how barbaric capital punishment is. Perhaps that's why in this country, executions are often carried out under cover of darkness, often deep in the bowels of a prison where most of us can experience them in an almost benign, hermetic way.
Still, carrying out a murder is no less dreadful when it is justified by state sanction. The 8th Amendment of the Constitution is not the only reason several states have placed the death penalty on hold as they examine whether lethal injections make for cruel and unusual punishment. Most of our consciences remain unsettled when we empower the execution.
Even before Illinois' moratorium, the death penalty was used sparingly. (New Jersey, which is considering abolishing its death penalty, hasn't executed anyone in more than 40 years.)
"In Illinois, when the vast majority of heinous cases are being handled with life sentences, you have to wonder if those death-penalty cases are purely symbolic," said Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The death penalty is revenge masquerading as justice. Hussein's execution reminds us of that. As a society, we are not made whole by administering it or adjusting our methods over the centuries, whether firing squad, electrocution, lethal injection or lynching.
No matter how many times we have performed this heinous act, it has never altered our sense of right and wrong. And no democracy, fledgling or otherwise, has ever been able to kill anyone in a manner befitting the true spirit of justice.
----------
dtrice@tribune.com
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