COLUMN: Capital punishment, a capital mistake
Just the other day, I grabbed my little tuna sandwich and turned on the tube.
On it, some jury entered a courtroom and declared their verdict that a young man, Chris Putnam, was found guilty of murder.
Apparently the kid was 12 years old at the time he shot his two grandparents. Now, he faces the prospect of up to his entire life in prison. During the broadcast, some had questioned why the death penalty had not been pursued.
Their reason: the Supreme Court said you can’t execute anyone that young.
Well, instead of the reason: “Because the Supreme Court said so.” How about, because he’s a kid? Because he was just 12 years old for Pete’s sake.
I wonder if the Court had ruled otherwise, would they have tried to execute him?
It’s always those darn liberal courts that hold us back from pursuing justice. Right?
In another recent high-profile case, I was disgusted by the hundreds of spectators who erupted in applause outside the California courthouse where a jury had just decided that Scott Peterson deserved death by lethal injection. Since when has death ever been something to cheer about?
The choice of the jury was between life in prison without parole and death for Mr. Peterson. I think justice could have been served – and yes, that is something to cheer about – all the same with a life sentence. But, apparently the last straw for the jury was his seeming lack of sorrow and remorse for
having committed the murders.
So, we’ll kill him.
Ya, maybe then he’ll feel real sorry.
Of course, all those cheering on the jury’s decision didn’t seem too distraught about the death of Mr. Peterson either. While we’re at it, maybe we should kill them too.
And while we’re out plucking out eyes and knocking out teeth, let’s take a look at all the other convicts in our prison system. Maybe we should go out and torture the torturer and rape the rapist. It’s barbarism at its finest.
Hammurabi would be so proud.
Of course, here in Utah, we don’t seem to be any better – just last year, we finally scrapped a law allowing execution by a firing squad.
Back in 1977, we even had the privilege of being the first state to execute someone after the 10-year national moratorium on capital punishment (if you look through the state’s official tourism site, Utah.com, we proudly list him under the section “Famous Utahns”). Oh yeah, and we killed him by firing squad too.
Way to bring back the big one in style.
Since 1973, 59 people awaiting execution on death row have been released after they were proven to be innocent. Some of them came within days of being executed.
And yet we continue chugging right along with many still awaiting their fate on Death Row. Isn’t one mistake one too many?
Over the years, capital punishment has not proven to be cost effective (not that economics should play a role in life-or-death decisions). It costs more to try to execute a person than it does to house them forever in a prison.
Capital punishment has not proven to be a deterrent of crime. In fact, a poll of the nation’s top city officials placed the death penalty last in a long list of measures most likely to reduce crime (The State of American Cities).
And no, capital punishment is not a solution to overcrowded prisons just as a sniper out on the playground wouldn’t fix our problem of an overcrowded school system.
It is a tool to extract revenge and nothing more. The majority of the world has eliminated capital punishment, and I see no reason why we shouldn’t.
Amazingly, a people that so detest the loss of life can so easily accept a law that ruthlessly takes it.
So call me pro-life on this one.
And, please don’t lynch me for saying it.
Jon Cox is a junior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to jcox@cc.usu.edu.