We all share in the horror and revulsion caused by a murderers' actions.
There is no doubt that the killing of a fellow human mandates the
killer's removal from society.
America has always been a violent society, reflected in its continued
love affair with guns and weapons and the making of war. We are paying
dearly for this legacy. Many people, specially males are still raised to
accept the modus operandum of violence and as a result the value of
human life is diminished, cheapened, easily dispensible. Many
traditional values, specially in the South also reflect inbred hatreds
and intolerances, and the 'death penalty' is supported by mostly
conservative lawmakers who prioritize knee-jerk vengeance over justice.
It is unheard of for a wealthy white defendant in a capital case to
receive a death sentence, let alone be executed. Death sentences are
reserved for people of color, or working class whites. Nobody knows how
many innocent people have gone to their deaths beacuse they could not
afford the likes of Johnny Cochrane, but the fact remains that innocent
people have been, will be, and are killed by the state.
America has one of the worlds highest murder rates per capita, supassing
that of many so-called 'less developed' nations, yet we also have one of
the worlds highest execution rates. Capital punishment has been proved
no deterrent: countries that have abolished the 'death penalty' find
that the murder rate either decreases of stays largely unchanged.
I know what it is like to have someone near to you taken out by a
deranged person. Two people close to me, one a close professional
colleague, and the other a very good friend were murdered. If those two
killers had been executed, would I be satisfied? Would I feel that
'justice' was served? Would I know for sure that the actual killers had
been executed? Would it bring back my two dead friends? The answer to
all of these is an absolute no, although I am aware that there are many
people who do prefer the course of revenge to that of healing.
No matter how 'reformed' or jovial Boggess appeared in facing execution,
the fact remains that human life has been cheapened, degraded just a bit
more, by yet another state-sanctioned premeditated and cold blooded
murder. Life sentence without parole is the only acceptable solution in
a society with any pretence at civilized behavior.
There is a courtroom in Texas where the judge has a plaque
(unconstitutionally) displaying the Ten Commandments. One of these says,
very plainly, that "Thou shalt not kill". It should apply to all of
us...and that includes the State. Violence begets violence, and if the
state can do it without redress, then its seen as more or less
acceptable. In this double standard of killing we have systematically
trashed our moral and judicial credibility, joining the likes the likes
of totalitarian nations such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Finally, lest anyone think that I'm being 'soft' on murderers, I put the
case that life in prison without parole surrounded by the dregs of
society is probably subjectively as severe a punishment as being
sentenced to death, where the perpetrator has to live with his actions
until the time that natural causes dictate that his time on Earth
finishes, as opposed to those arbitrary macho whims of a revenge-filled
judge who wants to play at being God.
this essage prompted by a PBS
special on the Death Penalty.