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The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient Pestilence

By TChris, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Mon Aug 22, 2005 at 08:38:52 PM EST
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by TChris

The Washington Post uses the tragedy of Lena Baker's execution to argue that courts and juries cannot be entrusted with the power to take a life:

It is tempting to believe that these tragedies don't happen anymore, that the death penalty now is more protective of innocent life. ...

Yet injustice is a resilient pestilence that -- like drug-resistant bacteria -- has myriad ways of defeating the best human attempts to eliminate it. And Americans who believe the death penalty is foolproof are simply kidding themselves. DNA testing has caused many people to be freed from death row, illustrating the fallibility of even modern trials. And recently prosecutors in St. Louis reopened the case of a man executed by the state of Missouri back in 1995 -- no longer being convinced that the state had killed the right person. As long as the death penalty persists, cases like Ms. Baker's -- where recompense is impossible -- are inevitable.

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    The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient Pestilence | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient P (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    So if courts shouldn't have the right to authorize taking a life...then I guess we're agreed that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned?

    Re: The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient P (none / 0) (#2)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:37 PM EST
    grad- How surprising! Most "pro lifers" are pro death penalty. Perhaps you are just being snide as usual.

    Re: The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient P (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:38 PM EST
    Funny thing about the anti-choice, pro-state sponsored murder crowd... They adhere strongly to the concept of death as a punishment. In the face of mounting evidence that the punishment they love, that gives them that feeling of being a god, that quenches their base instinct for blood and violence is flawed... They go on comparing it to abortion. Neatly sidestepping the issue (which is that the murder penalty is unfairly administered, that innocent men and women have been murdered by the state), and go straight to Roe v. Wade. At what point do the two meet?

    Re: The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient P (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:38 PM EST
    Well, the obvious answer here is that Roe vs. Wade authorized the killings of unquestionably innocent people (18 million so far in the US), whereas capital punishment authorizes the deaths of convicted people (less than 100, I think, in the same timeframe). But the other answer is, I'm against capital punishment in our society too. So how about answering the damn question?

    Re: The Death Penalty: Perpetuating A Resilient P (none / 0) (#5)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:39 PM EST
    Here's your "damn" answer... Life begins at birth, no matter how strongly you wish it didn't. Every facet of our lives starts with our "birthday", not conception. Besides, only people breathe air. Or feel pain. In any event, you and I will never agree on this, besides, this topic was about STATE SANCTIONED KILLING OF HUMAN BEINGS AS A PUNISHMENT FOR SOME CRIME. Not Roe v. Wade. As for your comment about Roe v. Wade authorizing the killing of innocents, I might offer that every war ever waged can be framed in exactly those terms... Still for the war? Or do those innocents not matter?

    Re: The Dea