Countdown to death
WASHINGTON — I stayed up late Wednesday night in hopes that the U.S. Supreme Court would call off the execution of Troy Davis. Instead, at 11:08 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
One minute he was lifting his head from the death gurney, pleading his innocence in the killing of a police officer 22 years ago and beseeching God to bless the souls of his executioners. Then the drugs entered his veins, he blinked a few times, appeared to yawn, according to witnesses, and entered the sleep from which there is no waking.
Over. Next?
Would that there were no next. I’m no wimp when it comes to justice and spent the first few decades of my life backstroking in the Old Testament. An eye-for-an-eye was fine by me. But I have matured and these days wear glibness—and righteousness—like a hair shirt. Satisfaction can never come from the termination of a human life except to protect one’s own and that of one’s dependents. Thus, our barbaric practice of capital punishment, premeditated and coldblooded, is, since we’re in a biblical mood, an abomination. That we grant the state the power to end a citizen’s life is a harrowing-enough thought. That we do so even when we know with certainty that sometimes innocents are killed is beyond comprehension.
In Davis’ case, opinions clearly differed. Seven of the nine witnesses who once identified him as the shooter have since recanted. Even so, a federal judge ruled last year that the recantation testimony cast “minimal doubt” on Davis’ conviction.
Minimal? Isn’t any level of doubt enough?
Apparently, even the Supreme Court didn’t think so. After delaying Davis’ execution for four hours on Wednesday, the court allowed the execution to proceed.
The fact of those recantations surely should create sufficient doubt, not to exonerate Davis but at least not to kill him—even if you support the death penalty, as many sane and lovely Americans do. That said, I’m not so sure a sane and lovely person would or should cheer the death penalty, as audience members did recently upon Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s expression of pride in his administration of ultimate justice. More convicted individuals have died in Texas under Perry’s watch than in any other state.
Though death is nothing to celebrate, I understand the desire for justice. I’ve experienced the horror of murder up close. Three members of my extended family have died at the hands of others, and I wish the perpetrators a toasty eternity. But my killing them doesn’t restore anyone’s life. It merely makes me a killer.
Nevertheless, I don’t judge those for whom the ultimate justice brings solace or that most prosaic of catharsis—closure. Everyone understands the reflex to destroy the destroyer. But I do judge us. This nation. This society. This culture. The urge for justice and its close relative, revenge, is human, which is by definition also to err.
For justice to have any meaning, it must also mean that no innocent person should ever be executed. Some argue that the relatively rare and unintentional death of an innocent, if not justifiable, is at least tolerable toward the greater end of punishing the guilty, which is most often the case. During years of covering criminal courts, I was mostly surprised that anyone ever is convicted given the strict standards of proof.
Thanks to DNA testing, we also know that scores have been on death row who shouldn’t have been. Extrapolating, we can safely conclude that some innocents have been wrongfully executed. These facts alone should be all we need to retire the guillotine in hopes that we might yet evolve to a higher level of humanity. Never mind the other factual arguments that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent and that, given our appeals process, executing someone is more expensive than keeping him in prison for life.
When we join together to administer death, we become something other than a civilized community of men and women. No matter how we frame the arguments or justifications, we become executioners. Where there is doubt, as there seems to have been in Davis’ case, we become murderers.
No one is recommending that Davis should have been given a free pass. Life without parole is no picnic. But we might sleep easier had we not participated in killing a man without the moral certainty that he was guilty.
Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Her email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.
Sep 25, 2011 at 11:28 a.m.
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RetiredAirForce - That Youtube video was awesome and right on! I'm surprised you haven't been brutally attacked on here for pointing out hipocracy in such a manner!
Sep 24, 2011 at 5:04 p.m.
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cbrltr says "The intentional taking of life is murder however you want to look at it"
Nice try. Must be another wikipedia definition. You seem to have overlooked a few key words. Every legitimate definition includes "unlawful killing" and most also include "with malice aforethought". Since capital punishment is only administered where it is lawful, and (unfortunately) only in as peaceful circumstances as possible, then there is also no malice involved.
Keep on inventing and tailoring definitions to justify your opinions.
Sep 24, 2011 at 1:05 p.m.
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So should you then be put to death if you kill someone by the intoxicated use of a motor vehicle? Remember an eye for en eye!
Most, if not all, states have qualifiers or "special circumstances". Georgia code (O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30) lists the qualifying circumstances. Intoxicated use of a motor vehicle is not among them. Georgia courts generally require at least 3 "special circumstances" in order for a DA to proceed with capital prosecution. Some people do not understand this and simply blow this off as "person A kills someone and gets life. Person B kills someone and gets death. Must be because person B is poor or black or of a lower socioeconomic class". Included in these special circumstances are prior history of violent crimes including armed robbery, combining violent acts such as torture, rape, kidnapping, etc... with the murder; and several others that can be found here http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gaco... (title 17, chapter 10, article 2: 17-10-30)
Sep 23, 2011 at 10:21 a.m.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeKwz9W8o...
Sep 23, 2011 at 10:04 a.m.
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2 very good points Dave and I would have to agree on both counts....but as I stated earlier if it happens to my kids etc. my opinion changes and I'm all for it . I'm just admitting to how a lot of families react to it happening to them . On the flip side there are some families that forgive or don't support it . I do not have that inner strength to forgive someone who would murder the innocent.
Sep 23, 2011 at 8:36 a.m.
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@fearandrhetoric4dummies: My comment acknowledges two things that I believe mosy people would agree with. 1) Some people (example - a gruesome mass murderer) deserve to die. And 2) The government is fallible. It is known that they make a lot of mistakes in any realm they are involved in.
This does not equate to me being okay with capital punishment in a general sense, I truly struggle with that issue for reasons I hope I have already stated clearly.
Sep 23, 2011 at 8:22 a.m.
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Most people think we have the fairest justice system in the world ? I do . Our justice system still gets 1% (just guessing) of the cases wrong ? If you are given life in prison with no chance for parole and you are innocent , that somehow is better than death ? I would think the death penalty(any crime) now with DNA as evidence is much more damning than say in the 70's , 80's etc.
Sep 22, 2011 at 9:45 p.m.
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"Although there are certainly human pieces of excrement that deserve it, the mere fact that it's the government doing the executing scares the bejeezus out of me." Just responding to your comment dave. Your comment tells me that you might be okay with it as long as the government werent executing the punishment. Sorry if I took you out of context.
Now while I personally am consistent on the life issue and view abortion as murder. It is not a scientific fact that abortion is murder. WHile I believe the ONLY times an abortion should be legal are in rape,incest, and life of the mother, millions dont share that belief. Unfortunately it is an OPINION when life really begins. Science does not always agree on this one. Try to remember that once a baby leaves the womb there is an absolute consensus on the meaning of life.
Abortion and the death penalty are NOT similar issues, the effort to link them in similarity is disengenuous.IMO.
Sep 22, 2011 at 7:51 p.m.
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@fearandrhetoric4dummies: Do I necessarily need to have someone else executing people in order to worry about the government doing it?
Sep 22, 2011 at 6:02 p.m.
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bigfish1: I believe I answered that question. The intentional taking of life is murder however you want to look at it. Will taking someone elses life make your loss any less heartbreaking, I believe their freedom should be taken from them but God is the only one who has the right to end a life.
Sep 22, 2011 at 5:51 p.m.
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grandys618: get it straight...I do not support abortions either!! The intentional taking of life is MURDER whether performed by a Dr., individual, or the state.
Sep 22, 2011 at 4:47 p.m.
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Funny how conservatives are so concerned with a woman's fetus while still a part of her, but not so much after birth. The death penalty is not a deterrent, it's a punishment. I can imagine all the gleeful faces and lurid applause when Gov. Perry commented on his executions. Seems conservatives don't like big government, unless it strokes their fetishes, such as the death penalty. Murder is murder, call it it what it is, whether it's someone getting shot in a robbery or being injected with chemicals by an authoritative state.
Sep 22, 2011 at 4:23 p.m.
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What alot of people are forgetting here is DNA...which has proven that SOME people who said they were innocent WERE innocent. I do not know if DNA was available in this situation. The shoe on the other foot theory...you can say what if so and so raped your daughter or did this or that, but again, WHAT IF YOU WERE ACCUSED....Mr. Smith seen you there, well, maybe it looked like you...key word LOOKED like you. My point is there is no right or wrong to this but try to keep an open mind to BOTH sides and the WHAT IF the man was telling the truth, for after all, DNA has proven there are innocent people incarcerated.
Sep 22, 2011 at 3:46 p.m.
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So should you then be put to death if you kill someone by the intoxicated use of a motor vehicle? Remember an eye for en eye!
Eye for an eye is a stupid argument, just like throwing emotion into a situation to motivate revenge killing by the governemnt. because thats all this is. What if all of the circumstancial evidence poinyted to a man raping and murdering your daughter, then he was put to death, and 5 years later DNA evidence was found that made that man innocent? Would you still feel good about getting revenge? An imperfect justice system should not allow capital punishment , because innocent people being put to death is as bad of a crime. Who do we charge? Who gets revenge for the innocent man? And this has happened. The problem with many is that they see this as a black and white argument, when it is FAR from it.
Dave- so who would you have executing people that would make you feel better about it? the victiums family? Maybe a profitable , private execution corporation? Just curious what the government has to do with it? Dont trust the imperfect flawed system, not the government that distributes the punishment.
Sep 22, 2011 at 3:23 p.m.
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cbrltr...I pose the same question to you , if you are a mother and someone rapes and murders your daughter would your opinion change ? I am a father and give me an eye for an eye .
Sep 22, 2011 at 2:22 p.m.
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Although she makes a great case (and I love her writing style!), Ms. Parker also uses the old cliche "capital punishment is not an effective deterrent", which is really only partially true. Capital punishment is a 100% effective deterrent for those who are executed - they will not offend again.
That being said, I have my doubts. Although there are certainly human pieces of excrement that deserve it, the mere fact that it's the government doing the executing scares the bejeezus out of me.
Sep 22, 2011 at 2:05 p.m.
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So, bigfish you are condoning murder..an eye for an eye?? because I believe ...no matter the circumstance; execution is LEGALIZED MURDER. I believe what the author is trying to get across; is the FACT that there have been too many INNOCENT persons..executed. What would you call the state for executing an innocent person??
Sep 22, 2011 at 1:46 p.m.
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Kathleen Parker , let's assume you are a mother . Would your opinion change if some man raped and murdered your daughter ?
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