« Writing Contest | Main | Veep Racial Profiling »
July 30, 2004
Eye for an eye, sometimes
Tonight, I watched the documentary, Deadline, which aired at 8:00pm on NBC television tonight. The program is primarily about the January 2003 decision by Illinois Republican and then Governor George Ryan's decision to grant blanket clemency to all 167 people on death row in Illinois, commuting their sentences to life without parole. I found the following scenes most of all telling.
Bill Clinton speaks in 1992 on the moral dilemma he went through as governor upon deciding the fates of three death row inmates. He prayed about the decision and he prayed for the inmate's soul.
George W. Bush speaks in 2000, stating that he firmly believed that not one of the 152 inmates executed in Texas was in any way not guilty and had entire due process of the law. George W. Bush had no moral dilemma whatsoever. He held life or death decisions in his hands and with the arrogance of a Roman Emperor, turned his thumb down with no hesitation or apprehension. (How did this man get into the White House?)
The undeniable truth is that capital punishment is entirely unfair. People with money and influence can defend against it. Like the documentary pointed out, we treat criminals as if they are their crime, destroy the criminal and the crime is vindicated. So many people who have loved the murdered victims of executed criminals will tell you, the execution does nothing to offer them closure.
I heard, in my younger days, the argument that, “What if it were your mother, your partner, your child?” My only answer is that, “Then I would be angry. Certainly I would hate the killer and want retribution.” But retribution would be best served with forcing the killer to serve life in prison, without the possibility of parole, forced to live with the guilt of their crime. It certainly is less expensive than execution. I'll deal with my closure with grief counseling, psychiatric sessions, and visits to my loved one's graveside.
The program is being rebroadcast on Saturday night from 8 to 10pm on MSNBC.
View the website: Deadline: The Movie
Incedentally, Florida has exonerated more death row inmates (25) since 1972 than any other state. That's over 20% of the total exonerations in the US, 112! Even if you're pro-death, you should take a few minutes and visit the website for Floridians for an Alternatative to the Death Penalty: FADP
Posted by Bastique at July 30, 2004 10:56 PM