| Illinois Governor George Ryan recently
issued a moratorium on executions in his state, stating that the system
is flawed and he is not willing to proceed with carrying out the death
penalty until he sees that the system has been fixed.
This decision from a Republican governor has created
some strange bedfellows. Capital punishment is frequently seen as a conservative
issue, whereas opposing it is seen as a liberal cause. In this instance,
however, this conservative would have to applaud Gov. Ryan's decision.
I have historically supported the death penalty,
and in theory, I still do. I think that there are some crimes, such as
the Oklahoma City bombing, for which it is the only just penalty. What
has turned me against this harshest of penalties, however, has not been
the arguments of its opponents. On the contrary, my change has been caused
by what I have seen of those who are charged with its application.
I have seen the Pardons Board refuse to even grant
a death row inmate a hearing at a time when 2 of its 3 members were expecting
to face off in a coming Senatorial election. It goes without saying that,
had either of them supported commutation or even a hearing, the ads would
have trumpeted that vote as evidence of being "soft on crime". When people
start playing politics with people's lives, however, justice is guaranteed
to get the short end of the stick.
Similarly, after the Nebraska legislature passed
a law outlawing the death penalty for individuals with exceptionally low
IQ, the attorney general's office fought for the right to execute such
a man by trying to say that he had been sentenced before the law was passed.
The death of any individual, even as punishment for
horrific crimes, is a tragedy. It is a statement that this person's life
is irredeemable in this world. The chance for anybody to help them turn
their life around and make something of it is gone. Any potential or talents
that they have will be lost forever. Any contributions they could have
made to society will never be received.
In those instances where this punishment is the only
true justice, it ought to be a tough decision. It ought to be made with
great regret. It ought to produce sorrow that such a tragedy is necessary.
In the people entrusted with the responsibility of making these decisions,
I rarely see any of this. The execution of death row inmate is lauded as
a good thing, and the oppposition of any execution on any grounds raises
questions of whether or not somebody is sufficiently strong in their opposition
to crime.
Consequently, I have lost my confidence in those
who are entrusted with the power of life and death. I am not convinced
that they are committed to ensuring that the accused have had adequate
opportunities to assert their innocence. I am not convinced that they are
committed to ensuring that, among those who are guilty, an accurate distinction
is made between those who are deserving of death and those who are not.
The taking of a life, either by a criminal or by
a criminal justice system, is irreversible. It ought not be done without
absolute certainty of guilt. It ought not be done without a compelling
case that the crime is severe enough to warrant it. It ought not be done
without sorrow. Until this is the case, I am inclined to agree with Governor
Ryan that it ought not be done at all. |
