Zach LarkinsCAPITAL PUNISHMENT I
Mary Vallis is writing a series about capital punishment in the US entitled ‘Playing God: The fight to kill the death penalty' in the National Post. Her first focus is on the state of New Jersey which has nine murderers on death row. None of them are even close to feeling the pinch of the needle in the arm. If anything, she writes, their chances of dying by lethal injection, or even being executed at all, are getting slimmer by the day. It seems that New Jersey, which restored its death penalty in 1982, has not killed a death row inmate for 44 years. One of the inmates is nearing 80 and is in poor health. It has been suggested he could die of natural causes before he is executed. Why is this?
As Ms Vallis writes, "With an execution looming last year, the Democrat-controlled state legislature imposed a one-year moratorium on lethal injection and created a commission to review the state's death penalty. Last month, the commission recommended the state abandon capital punishment because the death penalty "is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency." New Jersey could thus become the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976."
The national mood on capital punishment is shifting because of scientific evidence suggesting innocent people are on death row, and growing concern that the most common method of execution, lethal injection, is inhumane. Now remember that in the past, these criminals were hanged before that punishment was deemed inhumane. Witness the outcry recently at what happened in Iraq when the hangman misjudged and the criminals head was torn from his body. Inhumane? Maybe. But he still suffered a quicker death than those he had sentenced to die. Besides, he wasn't going to be using the head anymore anyway.
So hanging was abolished to be replaced by the electric chair. This was considered humane until ‘Ol' Sparky' started having problems and convicts were taking too long to die. Any one who has seen the film adaptation of Stephen King's ‘The Green Mile' will know that the electric chair can be abused by sadists who really want the convict to suffer for their crimes. This may seem to be ‘an eye for an eye' type of justice, but it really isn't. A convict who rapes, tortures and mutilates a victim does not suffer the same pain when he is put down. He is treated almost royally when his number is called. How else do we explain his right to have Last Rites? Why do we feed him a meal of his choice before he walks to his death? Why do we make sure he is in the pink of health before execution? Because of liberal minded thinking that says we have to dispose of him ‘humanely'.
So we strike the electric chair and replace it with the gas chamber. This was a relatively safe way to get rid of some unwanted's, but the tricky part was knowing the chamber was purged of lethal gas and the prisoner was actually dead before the guys in the HAZMAT suits went in to retrieve him. It also took quite a bit of time, but when you think of it, where else did the convict have to be that his time was so precious?
The gas chamber gave way to lethal injection. The convict is strapped to a gurney and given an injection that puts him to sleep. A long sleep, mind you, but the process is relatively quick and benign and everyone can scurry home in time for dinner. The clean up squad gets overtime to remove the body, but prison guards aren't the best paid help to begin with. They can use the cash.
But now, even lethal injection is looked upon as being ‘inhumane'. Why? In the 39 states with capital punishment on the books, executions are suspended in at least 12 because of concerns the method is inhumane. This is in part because the toxic cocktail of chemicals used to kill prisoners is not always administered by professionals (doctors in many states refuse to participate). Florida is an example. Former governor Jeb Bush struck a panel to study the issue after the botched execution of Angel Diaz in December, 2006. It took two injections and 34 minutes to kill the inmate because the needles were pushed all the way through his veins, so the toxic chemicals did not flow directly into his blood. Those present watched Diaz wince and grimace as he died. A state commission probing the issue this week learned Florida's executioners are not required to have any training or qualifications, other than being at least 18 years of age. I wonder if his victims winced and grimaced?
The US is under the microscope on this one for taking the stance of saying, ‘Do what I say, not what I do.' Only China, Iran and Saudi Arabia conducted more executions in 2005, according to Amnesty International, and at present, the US deals heavily with China and Saudi Arabia and are courting Iran. Rather a difficult position to be in. Canada is no better. It trades with China while ignoring its own stance against Aboriginals. Deborah Denno, a professor at Fordham University Law School in New York, has written extensively on the death penalty and says the American attitude toward the death penalty is rooted in a long history of independence, aggression and self defence: "This is an identity that can't be shed immediately. This is an identity that we've had for centuries now, since our inception."
Still attitudes appear to be shifting with a drop in the number of executions by 46% since 1999, resulting in just 53 executions nationwide last year. A majority of Americans routinely say they are in favour of it for a person convicted of murder (67%). But when asked to choose between the death penalty and life imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole last year, more people chose life (48%) than death (47%). This statistic is virtually meaningless as all polls will tell you that they are accurate to within so many percentage points based on the number of people surveyed. So let's call it a tie at best (or worst, depending on your point of view). But compare this to numbers from 20 years ago. In 1986, 55% chose the death penalty, while 35% chose life imprisonment.
Does capital punishment still have a place in society? We will take a look at that in our next article.
Sources: Mary Vallis The Fight To Kill The Death Penalty National Post
The national mood on capital punishment is shifting because of scientific evidence suggesting innocent people are on death row, and growing concern that the most common method of execution, lethal injection, is inhumane. Now remember that in the past, these criminals were hanged before that punishment was deemed inhumane. Witness the outcry recently at what happened in Iraq when the hangman misjudged and the criminals head was torn from his body. Inhumane? Maybe. But he still suffered a quicker death than those he had sentenced to die. Besides, he wasn't going to be using the head anymore anyway.
So we strike the electric chair and replace it with the gas chamber. This was a relatively safe way to get rid of some unwanted's, but the tricky part was knowing the chamber was purged of lethal gas and the prisoner was actually dead before the guys in the HAZMAT suits went in to retrieve him. It also took quite a bit of time, but when you think of it, where else did the convict have to be that his time was so precious?
The gas chamber gave way to lethal injection. The convict is strapped to a gurney and given an injection that puts him to sleep. A long sleep, mind you, but the process is relatively quick and benign and everyone can scurry home in time for dinner. The clean up squad gets overtime to remove the body, but prison guards aren't the best paid help to begin with. They can use the cash.
But now, even lethal injection is looked upon as being ‘inhumane'. Why? In the 39 states with capital punishment on the books, executions are suspended in at least 12 because of concerns the method is inhumane. This is in part because the toxic cocktail of chemicals used to kill prisoners is not always administered by professionals (doctors in many states refuse to participate). Florida is an example. Former governor Jeb Bush struck a panel to study the issue after the botched execution of Angel Diaz in December, 2006. It took two injections and 34 minutes to kill the inmate because the needles were pushed all the way through his veins, so the toxic chemicals did not flow directly into his blood. Those present watched Diaz wince and grimace as he died. A state commission probing the issue this week learned Florida's executioners are not required to have any training or qualifications, other than being at least 18 years of age. I wonder if his victims winced and grimaced?
The US is under the microscope on this one for taking the stance of saying, ‘Do what I say, not what I do.' Only China, Iran and Saudi Arabia conducted more executions in 2005, according to Amnesty International, and at present, the US deals heavily with China and Saudi Arabia and are courting Iran. Rather a difficult position to be in. Canada is no better. It trades with China while ignoring its own stance against Aboriginals. Deborah Denno, a professor at Fordham University Law School in New York, has written extensively on the death penalty and says the American attitude toward the death penalty is rooted in a long history of independence, aggression and self defence: "This is an identity that can't be shed immediately. This is an identity that we've had for centuries now, since our inception."
Still attitudes appear to be shifting with a drop in the number of executions by 46% since 1999, resulting in just 53 executions nationwide last year. A majority of Americans routinely say they are in favour of it for a person convicted of murder (67%). But when asked to choose between the death penalty and life imprisonment with absolutely no possibility of parole last year, more people chose life (48%) than death (47%). This statistic is virtually meaningless as all polls will tell you that they are accurate to within so many percentage points based on the number of people surveyed. So let's call it a tie at best (or worst, depending on your point of view). But compare this to numbers from 20 years ago. In 1986, 55% chose the death penalty, while 35% chose life imprisonment.
Does capital punishment still have a place in society? We will take a look at that in our next article.
Sources: Mary Vallis The Fight To Kill The Death Penalty National Post
Don't misunderstand... I am not defending criminals or saying they don't deserve to be punished. I just don't condone the death penalty.
Political Certainty
As for me, I am a liberal, sort of. I would be more likely to favor capital punishment if it were established to work and protect society. Sure, the one guy who is killed won't commit another crime, but true life without parole would have the same effect. On the other side, the arguments for capital punishment fall as a matter of proof. There is no reasonable assertion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to other criminals. The bad guy assumes he or she will not be caught; it isn't the ultimate punishment that is in play, it's the issue of whether apprehension is inevitable.
And then, there is the issue of the 50 or so prisoners who have, in the past few years, had their guilt successfully challenged with new DNA or other evidence, the convicts whose trials have been tainted by inadequate counsel or prejudice, and so on and so on.
Again, as always, I look forward to your comments.
Political Minds
but then the trial has to be fair, throughly investigated and yes..please try to check up DNA evidence. i don't want an innocent man die for crime he/she did not commit.
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