Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Read this about a murderer, and you'll see why Americans favor death penalty

Fugitive caught after 40 years

This story is too sympathetic to a man who admits to killing another human being in cold blood. There are so many people who advocate against the death penalty by saying they support life in prison. But as the tone of this article suggests, and the reality of prison budgets, and the passage of time; things change. The killer gets to change, while the victim is still dead.

I can empathize with the idea that life in prison is worse than the death penalty.
But in many cases it doesn't seem to be the case.
Someone today with evil intent or just prone to "losing it" wouldn't be fearful of the consequences from a story like this.

We need to instill good moral values within all people.
That means punishment needs to be quickly applied (relevant), consistent, and strong enough.

I would support the death penalty for the sake of preserving life in general. We need to have a system that is the best we can possibly design. Money and politics should have no say. Democrats who support capital punishment should couple that with criminal justice reform.

Until then, unfortunately I remain an opponent of the death penalty because of the mistakes that are routinely made, and the injustice in the system.

But this story needs to be told, and used as an impetus to get the sytem right.

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