Let’s debate the death penalty
by Jay Stevens
As I guessed, House Republicans wouldn’t let the bill abolishing the death penalty to reach the floor for debate.
I’m with Bigfork Republican, Bill Jones, who responded to Scott Sales’ implication that considering a death penalty ban would hurt Republicans politically:
“There’s more liability for those who obstruct the legislative process than those who vote their conscience,” Jones said.
The notion that death penalty support or opposition falls purely along party lines is a quaint notion. On one hand, you’ve got Wulfgar!, who supports the death penalty, and on the other you have Montana Headlines, who opposes it. (And by the way, anytime MH starts a sentence off with “liberals think…” you can skip the paragraph. If MH actually knew how liberals think, he’d be one.)
The death penalty is expensive, it’s not an effective deterrent, it’s unfairly applied, and it’s subject to mistakes, as the recent spate of pardons based on DNA evidence attests. Unease about the practice has grown, not just among liberals who are understandably uncomfortable with the idea of a government putting its citizens to death, but among Christians who value life, repentance, and an eternal soul; lawmakers, who hate to see the courts bogged down in endless appeals; prison officials who have to deal with the ugly and difficult mechanics of the process; and citizens of all ideological stripes who are beginning to realize that there are innocent men and women on death row, more than we can be comfortable with.
At the very least, House Republicans should be open to debate. Let the public record show how our representatives feel about the issue. Let them suggest ways that we can fix the obvious and glaring problems with the death penalty. It’s time we address this issue again.
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April 13, 2007 at 9:18 am
After what we saw in the phony Duke rape case (not covered in this blog), any man who thinks that our criminal justice system is working properly is an idiot. But, more to the point, some people need to die for their crimes. And, oddly enough, they know it and desire their own death.
I think in the case of those who commit capital crimes, there should be only two possible penalties: death or life in prison. Those who admit to their guilt in open court, i.e., plead guilty to a capital crime, would be executed within 30 days. During that 30-day waiting period, they would have the right to change their plea to not guilty and be tried before a jury. For those who plead not guilty, they would be tried as per usual, and if found guilty of a capital crime, they would automatically receive a life sentence.
Granted, this proposal will not please the majority of the capital punishment advocates, who will maintain that most persons charged with a capital crime will naturally plead not guilty and will therefore always be immune from the ultimate punishment. Neither will it please those who have taken an absolutist position against the death penalty. But the unfortunate truth is that our criminal justice system—police, prosecutors, judges, and public defenders—is filled with sadistic psychopaths and incompetent morons trained and hired under affirmative action programs. That, combined with the fact that the average juror is drawn from a pool of citizens generally least qualified to make intelligent judgments, creates the likelihood that innocent people will be incarcerated and, from time to time, executed.
However, erroneous incarceration can be reversed and can be compensated for, to whatever extent money is capable of repairing a life spent in unjust confinement. Capital punishment cannot be reversed, and any right-thinking man would not be willing to bet a human life on the criminal justice system we currently have.
April 13, 2007 at 1:36 pm
But, more to the point, some people need to die for their crimes. And, oddly enough, they know it and desire their own death.
Oh my stars! The rational behind this I have just *got* to hear.
April 16, 2007 at 8:33 am
If we’d end this pointless war on plants and quit tossing people in jail for having a pot pipe in their glove compartment we’d have all sorts of room in our prisons for the real criminals and wouldn’t have to worry about wrongfully executing people. I’m not opposed to capital punishment, but I’m also well aware of the reality that innocent people have and will continue to be executed. I only support death as an option in extreme cases that are well proven, or in cases where the criminal has confessed. It’s just really hard to nail down a definition for “well proven”.
I could think of a few more victimless crimes that could really stand to go away and stop plugging up our justice system as well.