January 6, 2007
Death to the Death Penalty
by Larry Du
http://www.opednews.com/author/author3426.html
"...he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her."" - John 8:7
In the past few days, the debate on capital punishment has once again been ignited by the hanging of ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. To me, I believe that the death penalty is simply not the way to go about punishing people for their crimes. As a Christian, the biggest and most definitive argument for me to put an end to the death penalty is the fact that the right to take away life is that of God's and not anyone else's.
To me, it is a perversity that certain groups from the Christian Right can twist the meaning of the Bible to permit such acts of cruelty. The arguments and facts presented in the Bible reflected the traditions that are the best of its time. In fact, if we are to take the Bible word through word, we should be able to allow slave trade, child labour, the stoning of homosexuals, prostitutes, adulterers, murderers, those who plant different produces side by side, or wear clothes made of two different kinds of thread - or even to cast away into exile those who work on the Sabbath, those who've touched the skin of a dead pig (anyone who's touched a baseball), or have mixed dairy products with meat.
The United States is the only so called 'first world country' that permits the death penalty in its legal system, although it prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments" in its constitution. Hence putting it alongside with countries such as Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Guatemala, Swaziland, Kinshasha-Congo, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Syria and many other developing countries that still permits the killing of its citizens.
The UDHR, along with many international organizations condems the death penalty - because, as the UDHR states, the fundamental human rights includes "life, liberty, and the security of person." But there are many other more 'practical' reasons which argues for the case of the abolishment of the death penalty. The death penalty, as seen by many, is a racially biased form of punishment, as it is applied mainly to minority groups. Statistics from the Death Penalty Focus organizations shows us that around 60% of all present death row inmates are non-white, while around 80% of the US population is white.
Those who have been executed are usually those living below the poverty line - when have you ever heard of someone being executed for commiting a white-collared crime (such as a multi-millionaire bankrupting his company, defrauding his investors, putting tens of thousands of people out of work, and hiding millions of tax-free dollars in a bank in the Caymans that awaits his spending once he gets of a jail)? And then, there is the reason that we execute innocent people. Out of all the people that have been executed, we can statistically argue that there has to be at least one of them that have been wrongly executed. If at least one innocent person has been executed, it is still too high of a price to pay.
But in the end, we have to admit the fact that the death penalty is the easy way out for governments. We should not punish those who have wronged us or have gone astray, in fact we should help rehabilitate them back into society. Simply getting rid of the problem is not the right way to go. We should fix the problem, so that it will never happen again.
I am sickened by the fact that there are people watching videos of Saddam's hanging and rejoicing over it. The value of a human life is one that is beyond measure, and if we are to take a person's life so carelessly, I think we should reflect upon why people would do so. Death is never something to be celebrated.
"They (Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Malaki) discussed the current situation in Iraq, including the execution of Saddam Hussein. The President congratulated the Prime Minister on the decision to - perhaps, congratulations is probably not the proper term to use." - Tony Snow in a recent press briefing
http://plubius.wordpress.com
I am a student studying in Hong Kong and around 14 years of age. I am an enthusiast of many unconventional hobbies - including grass blowing (the kind of grass that's non-medicinal), trying to get my tongue to touch my nose, reading (isn't that weird) and much much more.
Larry Au has presented a very moving and well-reasoned piece on a controversial and emotionally charged subject.
His factual recitation of the deplorable state of the US criminal justice system's past misuse of capital is spot on.
He is also correct in his statement that the US alone among industrialized nations executes prisoners.
The US is not like other developed nations though, although we rank very high in economic indicators our social and political progress have not kept pace with our industrial and economic advance.
Larry Au cites the irony of conservative Christian religious groups supporting legal execution in direct and deliberate contradiction of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I consider this yet another manifestation of that segment of the American public's unwillingness to live up to what they preach.
The roots of these anomalies appears to me to lie in middle America's ideas of American singularity, their apparent belief that Americans are endowed with superior cultural and moral sense.
It is paradoxical that the American Christian Conservatives have turned religious orthodoxy into cultural chauvinism and social conservatism so extreme that it is indistinguishable from frank bigotry.
That all said, it is hard for me to envision legislative initiatives banning legal execution gaining traction in America.
I think there are two reasons for this: one is the obduracy of the the American right who wholeheartedly and enthusiastically support legal execuction and who would probably expand it to include crimes like flag burning if they could.
The second and what we might call the criminological reason for broad public support of legal executions is the perception Middle America breeds horrible criminals. Is there another society in history that his bred the serial killers, casual gang banner murders, lynchings and numerous organized crime executions that occur in America?
Although execution will not prevent the first offense of the type mentioned above, if it is applied it will prevent recidivism.
The public seems to take comfort in the society's willingness to execute these heinous criminals.
Many very principled and talented people have spent a great deal of time and effort in efforts to repeal death penalty statutes and protesting executions. In my view, these efforts are praisworthy and worthwhile despite their ultimate futility.
Let me suggest another tactic for advocates of the abolition of the death penalty.
The District Attorney is the official who determines whether death penalty offenses will be prosecuted.
Let us concentrate on electing District Attornies opposed to the death penalty. This is not such as a high hurdle as it may seem as most crimes occur in urban jurisdictions where the public disapproval of the death penalty is the hightest.
In some states, this tactic will need to be supplemented by legislative initiatives to ban mandatory death sentences for certain crimes, but this hurdle can probably surmounted in every state.
Kudos to Larry Au for again bringing up the issue of legal executions in America. These two actions,1, returning judicial discretion in sentencing; and 2), electing district attornies opposed to capital punishment will probably end this country's barbaric practice of executing poor people for crimes that would result in prison terms for middle class defendants.
Robert Chapman
Lansing, NY
by rchapman (6 articles, 228 comments) on Saturday, January 6, 2007 at 8:08:35 AM
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