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I've discussed it here before [link] so I won't go into the details, but it was because of this belief that I was interested to read about the release of a woman in Indiana who's been on Death Row for twenty eight years, ever since she was sixteen years old [link].
Now I'm not going to go into the rights and wrongs of the situation. I don't know if she deserves to be on Death Row, or if her release is perfectly justified, I just know that the idea of anyone waiting for their government sponsored demise gives me the heebie jeebies.
And yes, before all the pro-capital punishment people start giving me their reasons why it's a good idea, I know. Believe me, you could put me on the pro side of a Capital Punishment debate and I could argue for it with the best of them.
It's a guaranteed way to ensure that the person never hurts anyone again. It's more cost effective than keeping someone in jail for the rest of their lives (although I have read arguments against that what with appeals), it's a form of societal self defense, which protects a society from self destructing by removing elements that may cause other society members to lose faith in it's ability to protect them.
I can argue them all, and quite convincingly even if I do say so myself.
But that doesn't stop my heart from trying to jump out of my chest or from making funny little mewling sounds in the back of my throat when I try to watch The Green Mile, so I think I'm going to stick with my anti stance.
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By the way, guys, don't forget that Google Reader is being retired this weekend, so don't forget to make other arrangements. You can follow me on Bloglovin by clicking on the links below, or go to the side bar to enter your email to have them sent directly to you!
Whatever the answer, I think it's clear that what we're doing isn't working. Death sentences take so long that soulless, unapologetic serial killers like Richard Ramirez die in a hospital bed of cancer. At the same time, it really sucks to know that it costs tens of thousands of dollars each year to house an inmate. I just wish we had a better solution all the way around.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day they'd just exile people, basically throw them out of the clan. Of course, back then it was probably a death sentence in and of itself.
DeleteI have you on Bloglovin! I always just think of all the times people are released from prison because it turns out they were innocent. I can't imagine people dying who were actually innocent!
ReplyDeleteThat's something that disturbs me too. You hear of so many cases where the person turned out to be innocent.
DeleteI have mixed feelings about capital punishment. I've heard that executing someone is much more costly than life in prison but I wonder what the families of victims think. If it gives them closure then I guess it serves a purpose, even though the death penalty is often applied unfairly to minorities.
ReplyDeleteI'm just not sure if I trust us as a species to be able to decide if someone should be killed for a crime. We're too emotional, too subjective when it comes to things like this.
DeleteI can understand the argument both ways, but when the person is caught in the act or otherwise known/proven guilty without a doubt- I see no problem with removing them from existance and the sooner the better. They get a humane death, choose their last meal, etc. while many times their victims received neither. I know of a woman who's son tried to kill her, then sent another person to kill her while he was still in prison. Keeping them locked up doesn't ensure anyone's safety either.
ReplyDeleteThere's no one good answer, that's for certain.
DeleteI'm with you, but I bet you could have guessed that.
ReplyDelete:D
DeleteComfort yourself with the fact that Green Mile is fiction.
ReplyDeleteBloody Stephen King, that man will never know the trauma he's put me through.
Delete"Thou shalt not kill"
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree with you there.
DeleteI am very torn on the subject of capital punishment. I understand the arguments "pro" especially in the case of serial killers but, I am like you in the sense that in my gut, I could never endorse it or participate in wanting someone to be executed.
ReplyDeleteIt's a hard one to reconcile, isn't it.
DeleteWhen DNA has proven beyond all doubt someone raped, murdered, etc, then they should lose their own life. We should bring it back. Time and appeals should be limited to a certain amount of times and years so it doesn't drag out for decades.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem cruel, how long it can drag on for some people.
DeleteKill her or don't kill her. But don't wait over 20 years to get it over with! She'll likely to die of natural causes first!!
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Valerie
I understand why it happens, but it does seem cruel.
DeleteYeah, I go back an forth. For sure, though, without DNA evidence and 100% certainty of a person's guilt, it shouldn't be allowed. I also just don't like the idea of even giving the government the opportunity, that small window to say it's okay for them to kill anyone. Because those small cracks are exploited until they become gaping moral black holes filled with unmanned drones affixed with bunker buster missiles aimed at anyone they deem a "societal cancer."
ReplyDeleteI'm just not sure i trust human beings to make objective decisions, even when they're not directly involved.
DeleteI grew up in a very friendly death penalty state. There are crimes I've heard about or witnessed living here that I truly don't care if someone finds Allah, the Lord, Buddha or any other deity that redeems their soul, I kinda just need them to not exist anymore. There are costly appeals that is true but those appeals allow for the possibility that if you didn't need to be there or if you are apologetic and repenting and fully understand the nature of your crime (blah blah blah) that your sentenced could be reduced to something else. That gives me some comfort but I'm pretty sure if it was a family member who was taken from me violently I would want that person taken out and shot almost immediately. I'm not sure how much of the news in the States you track but the mother who offered up her four month old daughter to be raped (and subsequently murdered) by her pedophile boyfriend doesn't deserve to keep breathing to me. While I don't think he intended to kill the young man I kinda don't want George Zimmerman to ever see the light of day again and really would prefer he not be breathing either since the whole episode could have been avoided had he just stayed in his flipping car. I guess my point is if you act recklessly and you end up through such behavior killing a truly innocent human being I don't think you deserve the privilege of air in your lungs.
ReplyDeleteI heard about that woman, such an awful story. She must be insane though, there's no way someone mentally healthy could have done such a thing.
DeleteYeah my brain won't let her go with she just must have been crazy. There are plenty of mentally disturbed people who never do a single thing to harm themselves or anyone else. Andrea Yates is probably the only mother I accept was disturbed and her crime makes sense in context of having too many kids under the age of 10 locked up in the house all the time when she had already been psychotic due to one round of postpartum depression. And she felt horrible once she was properly medicated. Pervert mom I just need to roast in a deep dark pit of hell.
DeleteYep, capital punishment is one of those things that will always depend on the circumstances, the crime etc, etc. I am glad we don't have it here though sometimes I feel it would be appropriate.
ReplyDeleteJury is out on this one.
It's a hard one to reconcile, isn't it.
DeleteIt's a very touchy subject for sure. There can be honest opinions for either side. I would hate to be on a jury and be asked to make that decision.
ReplyDeleteS
I'd probably do whatever I could to get out of being on a jury like that. There's no way I could be objective.
DeleteMy faith is big on Capital punishment but I am against. I think we human beings are very judgmental and we do not realize that we would be doing the same action if we kill a killer.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd see it that way too.
DeleteI am so torn on the issue. I think that the death penalty serves it's purpose and is needed in case of heinous crimes but I also believe that making a person wait 28 years in a little bitty cell before deciding to execute or release is overly harsh and inhumane. As a previous commenter stated George Zimmerman would be best served to never see the light of day again or breath fresh air if I had my way. People who do what he did don't deserve the ground they walk on.
ReplyDeleteI don't know it's all so much and so hard to wrap your brain around the rights and wrongs and were that line in the sand actually needs to exist. :|
Stopping by from the Bloglovin hop and following. Feel free to check me out at www.feliciasreddoorlife.com
It's a hard one that's for sure. I know the logical arguments, but I just can't feel them.
DeleteI must admit I'm not hugely political but it's the one subject that has always brought out strong feelings in me since I was a teenager. I'm lucky enough to live somewhere that does not have the death penalty and my stomach flips every time the subject is brought back in to the political arena as it invariable is every couple of years. When I was younger I always swore I would emigrate if ever we did bring back capital punishment, now I am older I'm not sure if I have the fire to go through such a huge upheaval. It would definitely be the cause that made me active politically.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I'd do if they tried to bring it back here, but I don't think it's likely to happen. There's never any muttering about it in the media or anything.
DeleteI don't know what side of the debate I'm on.
ReplyDeleteBut to me, worst case scenario remains someone being executed for something they didn't do.
Which is enough to make me be against it.
DeleteIt's a difficult topic but for me...the chance that you may be putting an innocent person to death is enough for me to vote against capital punishment. I do think, though, that jail needs to be a nastier place than it is.
ReplyDeleteI just can't agree with capital punishment. I, too, know and even understand the pro arguments, but if we say it is wrong to kill, how can we kill someone who kills? No matter what, it just doesn't feel right. And as a Christian, I don't understand the majority of Christians who are pro capital punishment. Do they honestly think Jesus would have been for it? It's baffling to me.
ReplyDeleteI could argue this topic for weeks with you, but I respect everyone has different opinions. The woman you talk about was issued with the death sentence for a reason, why wait 28 years to carry it out? That I do not agree with.
ReplyDelete