Ugh

I find the idea of capital punishment horrific. Not just because of the killing, but because it’s so permanent. The legal system makes mistakes, and it’s biased. When an innocent person is convicted and killed, there’s nothing that can be done to redress the mistake the legal system made.

Our homicidal friends down in Texas has decided to post the last words of the convicts they kill. I only had to look at three before I found one that professed innocence. I don’t know if the guy was innocent or not, but that risk of wrong conviction is enough for me.

8 Responses to “Ugh”

  1. Posted by darrell
    2006.Sep.19 @ 12:50

    It’s the ones that appear to show genuine remorse for their actions that get to me.

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  • Posted by Alberta Report
    2006.Sep.19 @ 13:25

    Does making the victim’s family a party to another murder really heal any wounds at all? It just adds more tragedy and loss to an already shitty situation.

    And to assume that *all* in the US are put to death are guilty is a pipe dream. How would you react if you were about to be put to death for something you didn’t do? Would you lie and admit you did it or would you say that they are murdering an innocent person? Skepticizm, okay, but seriously the law of averages just doesn’t play out here.

    Innocent people here are being murdered to give the false impression that law enforcement and the justice system “catch their man”, and to placate upset families of the victims, who become murderers by proxy.

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  • Posted by e
    2006.Sep.19 @ 15:01

    Hey AR,

    I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know if victim’s families really are pleased by capital punishment. I’m sure that some are, but it won’t bring the original victim(s) back: the hole of the original crime will stay in the families’ hearts for years to come.

    e

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  • Posted by e
    2006.Sep.19 @ 15:05

    Hey D,

    Yup. Those poor guys have probably been waiting to die for years. Ugh. It really does seem like an awful system.

    Yes, for actual cold-blooded killers, one may be able to argue that they deserve that suffering. I’m with Alberta Report on this one, however: innocent people are condemned to the same fate; which trumps any eye-for-an-eye argument, or a at-least-they’re-kept-off-the-streets argument.

    e

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  • Posted by darrell
    2006.Sep.19 @ 15:32

    I’m not sure if I was all that clear with my original post so I wanted to clarify it. I am not for the death penalty and yes, the argument that there are innocent people among them is still the best argument against the death penalty. It was just an observation that I made that for me, the ones who felt remorse actually hit me the hardest and I’ve been left thinking about why that is.

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  • Posted by e
    2006.Sep.19 @ 15:59

    Hey darrell,

    Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you were pro-death-penalty. I was just adding that comment because it’s an argument some proponents of capital punishment like to use. On the off chance someone who supports state sanctioned killin’ stumbles on this blog, I wanted to innoculate against that position.

    e

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  • Posted by Mark
    2006.Nov.14 @ 16:48

    You know, I’ve tried to explain many times to people that capital punishment is wrong for two reasons (both which were mentioned here):

    1. It’s hypocritical to say killing is wrong, then kill the killer. Murder with rules is still murder.
    2. It’s impossible to guarantee that an innocent person will never be put to death. This is unacceptable.

    What I’ve noticed is that politically Conservative people seem to universally disagree with #2. They figure as long as the ratio is pretty good (say, 99% accuracy) then the system is worth following. Sucks to be you if you’re the 1 innocent guy out of 100.

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  • Posted by e
    2006.Nov.14 @ 18:15

    Hey Mark,

    I’ve also heard the argument against your #2: “We should reserve capital punishment for the people who we know are guilty.” If our justice system were trustworthy enough for this to work, I might be swayed by this argument.

    e

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