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David Spates The death penalty There are some issues worth revisiting. State-performed
killing is one of them. Folks who read this column even on a somewhat
regular basis know that I've written about the death penalty
numerous times, and they also know that I'm opposed to it. However,
I learned something years ago when I was a college intern at
a radio station: Sometimes you have to repeat the same information
because not everyone heard it the first time. So with Rob Coe's latest execution date lightly
penciled in for this week, I thought it would be a good time
to rehash my views on capital punishment while adding some new
thoughts on the subject. As I said, I'm anti-death penalty, but not
because I believe every life is worth preserving. Coe and his
Death Row neighbor, Phil Workman, by no means are worthy of our
compassion, our mercy or even our oxygen. Coe killed and raped
an 8-year-old girl, and Workman shot and killed a police officer.
The world would have been a significantly better place had these
two slugs not been born. I have three reasons why I'm opposed to the
death penalty. (I used to have just two, but I've recently come
up with a new one.) First, life imprisonment is a tougher punishment
than execution. When you execute a guy, it's done there's
nothing more to do. But when you lock him behind bars forever,
you punish him every single day. Coe and Workman wake up every
morning and are severely punished. They've no hope of ever being
free again. Their lives are over, and they can do nothing but
wait to die. Given the choice between execution and life in prison,
I suspect I would select execution. My second reason I prefer life in prison over
execution is that execution has proved to be more expensive than
keeping killers behind bars for the rest of their days. The way
the appeals process is allowed to go on all but indefinitely,
keeping a killer behind bars is cheaper than killing him. Lawyers,
judges and court costs don't come cheaply. There aren't really any decent statistics
for Tennessee since we haven't executed anyone in 40 years or
so, but in Florida, which boasts one of the nation's most-populous
Death Rows, state reports indicate that it costs the taxpayers
about $3.2 million per execution that's about six times
the cost of a life-imprisonment sentence. A study by the Sacramento
Bee argued that California would save about $90 million a
year if it were to abolish the death penalty. Now, if we were to limit appeals and take
other fat-cutting steps in the execution process to make it more
fiscally sound, I might rethink my position on this point, but
I don't see that happening. Government gets bigger and more bloated,
not the other way around. And my newly added third reason for opposing
the death penalty is consideration for the victims' families.
I've added this third reason after watching Workman's and Coe's
on-again-off-again executions and the effects it had on the victims'
families. These poor people are waiting for the final chapter
of their horrific stories to be written, and instead the system
is pussyfooting about. Had Workman and Coe been sentenced to
life imprisonment, the final chapter would have been written
decades ago. Throw the creeps in jail with no hope of ever seeing
sunlight again that's it, you're done, finis, end of story. Perhaps the victims' families are eagerly
anticipating the executions, but I can't imagine how that would
be more gratifying than the knowledge that the killers are locked
away in a dank, tiny cell. If I had a family member or close
friend murdered, maybe I'd feel that the killer's death would
be the only thing that could equalize the equation, but I doubt
it. However, I don't presume to know what's going on in the minds
of those poor people. They feel how they feel, I'm not in any
position to criticize their emotions. So there's the rehash of my death penalty
views. Got a problem with any of this? Good. I hope you'll take
the time to write a letter to the editor. I enjoy hearing opposing
views. |