There is no gentle way to begin this post, so I will simply say that I am alarmed as I read about the proceedings of the third execution in this country this year. Whatever a person thinks about the morality of the death penalty, it cannot be that it is humane for a person to take such a lengthy time to die that his attorneys file paperwork requesting that the procedure be stopped and that measures be invoked in order to revive him.
First, the things going on that lead to this type of request being filed qualify as unbelievably cruel. Second, what are people thinking? It is time for a very serious assessment of this system. What on earth do you think life will be like assuming that person can successfully be revived? (Note that neither of the prisoners in question where this request has been made was successfully revived.) These are people who have had high doses of medication injected into their bodies that is intended to kill them within minutes. Doctors are not participating in these procedures. This is not a medical setting. This is not a situation that is intended to be reversed. Assuming it could be, the person is not just going to resume normal life. But no one is thinking about that.
What kind of people are we, that we think it is acceptable to do this?
In Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer’s Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty
Death penalty convictions have often been overturned because of faulty evidence.
Confessions can be coerced and/or bribed, especially if the defendant has issues in life that cause him to be unable to interpret leading questions or coercive situations. Turow gives an example: an inmate with an IQ of 73 who was offered a reward and fed false information in exchange for information which the police thought he had. His “confession” served as the basis for his sentencing and was later found not to line up with evidence. This practice not only leads to serious endangerment of a person’s life but should make us wonder about the efficacy of what law enforcement professionals do in the name of interrogation.
The death penalty is not applied uniformly. To some extent, there must be room for interpretation with regard to sentencing. On the other hand, Turow discusses the fact that as people become more afraid, the legislation concerning the death penalty has been modified to allow its use more widely. Why are we becoming more eager to kill?
The use of the death penalty is also influenced by other factors. A few examples:
- White murderers of white people receive more death penalties.
- Murderers of women and children receive more death penalties
- If an incident is gang-related, the death penalty is less likely to be applied (implying victim blaming).
- Judges and prosecutors who have never used the death penalty may be eager to seek it.
Turow’s book was published in 2004. I would like to read something more recent, especially in light of the issues raised by the failed executions this year. In any case, I think that we as a nation have some deep thinking to do.
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I am NOT in favor of capital punishment. But if it’s the law of the land (in some states), why can’t they find more merciful ways to do it? We finger point at other countries, but maybe we need to sweep our own front porch too. Sometimes, we look down our noses at people of other times, but maybe we need to re-think our own time.