Chances are that if you are reading this you already know me. But if you are a stranger and you are looking for left-of-center political opinions, rambling, senseless rants, and coverage of the Atlanta Braves that can only be described as severely manic-depressive...Welcome!!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Death Penalty

So kindergarten Cop denied "Tookie" Williams appeal for clemency. I know, "yet another left-wing rant against the death penalty" is what you must be thinking but I might surprise. Tookie made his bed, shot it, and now he is going to be strapped to it, and I am not terribly upset about it. This is not to say that I don't oppose the death penalty, I do. However my opposition is not based on moral indignation, but is rather more philosophic.

I believe that society has a right to judge people and, in rare cases, kill them. But in order to dole out the ultimate penalty it must be applied uniformly and fairly aver all segments of society. Since that is completely impossible in this, or any other society for that matter, then it is fundamentally unjust to apply said penalty only where it is convenient for the state to do so. Much has been said and written about the fact that the vast majority of people on death row are black, while blacks make up only 13-14% of the population, this is true. But it is also true that almost all those who sit on death row are poor. The bottom line is that if you commit a murder, and you have the financial means to hire a competent attorney then you can avoid the death penalty, and in some cases, prison altogether. People often point to O.J. as the prime example of this argument, but there are thousands more just like him who avoided death row and didn't garner any headlines.

What happens is a system of selective prosecution grows where the ability to achieve a judgment for the death penalty, and the defense's ability to fight against it are paramount when deciding weather or not to seek such punishment. The severity and brutality of the crime are secondary in this decision-making process. Therefore a large segment of the population is de facto exempt from the death penalty, and that makes it unjust and unacceptable in a society where people are, at least in theory, equal before the law.

Or you could go a completely different direction. (and this is aimed at all those small-government conservatives out there) The death penalty is administered by the government. the same government that you do not trust to administer water fluoridation. Yet you are completely secure in allowing this same institution to hold sway over life and death?

1 Comments:

Blogger Will said...

"Yet you are completely secure in allowing this same institution to hold sway over life and death?"

So Tookie gets to choose instead? He did for the 4 people he killed, anyway. Californians decide who dies and who doesn't in their judicial system. They've chosen to have the death penalty in their state. They elect their prosecutors. If the people of California wanted him to live out his life in prison they could have risen up with one voice and persuaded their governor for a stay. They didn't. A very small number of people protested the death penalty, a much smaller number defended Tookie personally, and he was put to death in accordance with the law.

Sounds like government fulfilling the will of the people to me.

(I realize you're not defending this slimball either, just making an overall point which I partially agree with)

2:39 PM

 

Post a Comment

<< Home