The legal establishment is once again split
over the death penalty. On 11/12/15 the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that, while the 1995 death sentence of
convicted murderer Ernest Dewayne Jones cannot be challenged, neither, on a
variety of convoluted procedural grounds, can it be dismissed. This ruling guarantees Jones’ appeals will probably
continue until his death of old age. And
so, with proponents and opponents of the death penalty continuing to fight it
out, I have a few questions.
Is it unreasonable to execute a sadistic
murderer who has proven to be a perpetual threat to the public? Apparently it is. The delaying tactics by advocates for death
row inmates have so delayed executions that it’s now claimed these very delays
cause executions to have become unreasonably infrequent, thereby in violation
of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
How is society benefitted by providing
lifetime room and board—at $47,000 per year per inmate in California—to prisoners
who must never be released? If nothing
else, it certainly provides employment for a lot of people. The list includes prison officials and guards,
attorneys to handle the continual death penalty appeals, physicians and medical
staff, food service providers to feed the confinees, psychiatrists and
psychologists to ensure mental oversight for those permanently incarcerated, for
those who operate non-profit foundations which continuously lobby for and
against capital punishment, as well as innumerable hangers-on, who merely feed
off the uncertainty.
And finally, is our nation more humane when
it locks up a person for life? It can be
argued that confining a prisoner to a cell, allowing only minimal contact with
other humans and offering no respite to a life behind bars, is far more
diabolical than a quick and relatively painless death. I’m not certain which I would find more
onerous.
A final thought: The death penalty must
either stay or go; it cannot continue to hang in limbo. If it stays, its execution must mimic that of
19th century Judge Isaac Parker, the “Hanging Judge,” who, when he declared
that the accused “be hanged by the neck
until dead,” was, in fact, promptly hanged
by the neck until dead. However, if
society is no longer capable of such forcefulness, then capital punishment
should end. It’s better we base our
policies on reality rather than contrived illusion.
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If you enjoy this
weekly Straight Talk by Al Jacobs, you’re invited to check out my monthly
Financial Newsletter, as well as my new book, The Road to Prosperity
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