Death penalty is a barberous anachronism

Death penalty opponents passionately believe capital punishment is nothing more than state-sponsored murder, the moral equivalent of two wrongs making a right. And they have plenty of good reasons to hold that opinion.

Numerous published studies show that capital punishment not only fails to deter crime, it can actually have the opposite effect. There are also troubling statistics indicating the death penalty isn’t applied evenly; that those in lower socioeconomic classes, particularly if they’re members of a racial or ethnic minority, are far more likely to be sentenced to die for committing violent crimes than wealthier, lighter-skinned people who’ve been convicted of similar offenses.

Then there’s the added problem of innocent people being put to death. Unlike miscarriages of justice, which can be overturned on appeal, unfairly convicted individuals cannot be un-executed after they’ve been exonerated. Recently, those aiming to eliminate capital punishment got plenty of grist for their arguments thanks to some events that took place in the State of Georgia.

Troy Anthony Davis, a black high school dropout, had been found guilty of the 1989 slaying of Mark MacPhail, a Savannah police officer. From the time he was arrested, Davis maintained his innocence. That in itself isn’t unusual; few accused cop killers facing a death sentence voluntarily confess. But given that seven of the nine original witnesses who testified against Davis later recanted or changed their testimony (several claimed they had been coerced into making their statements by police eager to solve the case) and that the prosecution never did produce a murder weapon, it wasn’t entirely surprising the case became a cause célèbre.

Pleas for a new trial and/or clemency came from such diverse individuals as former Georgia Republican Congressman Bob Barr, Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI Director William Sessions, entertainer Harry Belafonte, and former President Jimmy Carter. Amnesty International also got involved with the case, citing its many irregularities as a compelling argument to outlaw capital punishment once and for all. But after an 11th hour appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected without comment, Davis was executed by lethal injection on Sept. 21, just over 20 years after he had been convicted. He was the 1,269th person to be executed in the United States since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the practice 35 years ago.

The 1,268th prisoner to be legally put to death since 1976 was killed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas just hours before Davis was, but the reaction of capital punishment foes to that particular execution was muted at best. In fact, some death penalty proponents were eager to make the public more aware of that one.

Lawrence Russell Brewer was convicted of a heinous 1998 crime that shocked the nation. He and two other individuals adorned with racist tattoos were found guilty of beating James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old disabled black man, then chaining his ankles to the back of their pickup truck and dragging him behind it for more than two miles. When Byrd’s bloody, dismembered and decapitated remains were found the next morning, the police officer who discovered them initially thought they were road kill.

All three alleged perpetrators, each of whom was an avowed white supremacist and member of a Ku Klux Klan splinter group, had prior criminal records. Even death penalty foes likely had little sympathy for Brewer, who in an interview with a TV station in Beaumont, Texas stated he had no regrets, adding, “I’d do it all over again, to tell you the truth.”

Officer MacPhail’s relatives, several of whom were on hand to witness Troy Davis’ execution, expressed satisfaction that the sentence was carried out, as did Byrd’s survivors regarding the state-mandated killing of Brewer. But were the two bereaved families registering their approval of justice being done, or of vengeance? And will they feel the same fulfillment in five years, when their loved ones are still just as dead as they were when they were dispatched by their respective killers? Will the death of another human being ever help fill the void caused by the tragic murder of a loved one?

The death penalty is a ghoulish, vulgar anachronism; there are a multitude of reasons why it’s wrong. But no matter how noble their cause, the reality is that opponents of legalized killing, like any other group trying to bring about positive change to America, have to selectively and prudently pick their battles. Politics has been and will continue to be a major factor in the ongoing fight to end the odious and demonstrably ineffective institution that is capital punishment. The contrast in reaction to two identical and equally barbaric acts ”“ worldwide outrage over the execution of Troy Davis and the virtual ignoring of Lawrence Russell Brewer’s demise on the same night ”“ is merely the latest evidence of that.

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