Posts
"Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders." -Albert Camus
If you know me, you know I am pretty darn liberal in voting stance.
I usually don't blog political stuff- because I do not feel well versed enough to have a meaningful debate, and instead of educating myself, I fully admit I am lazy.
This needs to be discussed though.
The execution of Troy Davis. I have been anti-death penalty since forever. But this case really bothered me. More than most. It made me angry and it smacks of so many flaws in the system.
I do not believe one person or the state has the right to kill someone- it goes back to my numerous discussions with the kids- that two wrongs to not make a right- well killing someone else certainly does not bring back the original victim (aside from the fact that death row inmates cost taxpayers millions in appeals and the fact that the death penalty clearly does not function as a deterrent) it makes us no better than the original person who took a life.
While I do not know the specifics of Troy Davis case- and I certainly cannot say conclusively whether he was guilty or innocent, but there was doubt. When the majority of witnesses recant their testimony- more investigation deserves to be done. It wasn't. We failed. That is a tragedy.
Our system, while it is the best we have, is inherently flawed because it is a human system. There is always a chance that an innocent person will be imprisoned or executed, and that is not a chance I am okay with.
To quote a wise woman- despite this tragedy there seems to be more outrage over the new Facebook layout.
A caveat- I understand that if my child were killed. I can pretty much guarantee that I would want to personal kill the person responsible, but that does not mean it is right. It does not mean it is my right. It does not mean that it should happen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I am on the fence about this one... The Death Penalty I think is deserved when someone did something absolutely terrible (like the man who was just executed for dragging the man behind his truck) and I would rather not have the state pay for them to sit in prison forever. Then there are the cases with doubt where something doesn't sit right in your gut. This is certainly about an issue where people get really heated about.
That crime that you are referencing was heinous. I was very inspired by the victims family though.
If my child was killed *I* would want to kill the person responsible. But I wouldn't. What I would not want was the state to kill that person "on my behalf" in the name of justice. Killing a criminal takes a criminal off the street, sure, but so does prison and sometimes also rehabilitation. There are prison systems in other parts of the world that work. I wish the U.S. would look at some of them for ideas.
totally agree Christa!
Post a Comment