Nov. 28 USA: USA: 1,000th execution looms as lottery of death reaches shameful milestone AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE AI Index: AMR 51/191/2005----28 November 2005 A prison guard takes a man out of a prison cell. The guard leads the man through a hallway to an execution chamber and in the presence of witnesses, the prisoner is poisoned to death. The witnesses go home, many of them traumatized for life. The prison authorities who directly participated in extinguishing a human life are similarly traumatized. The journalists write stories about the man that has just been put to death in front of them. Officials clear the room until the next time. In the USA, this scene is fairly routine. Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the US Supreme Court, nearly 1,000 men and women have been killed by the state in the name of justice. As the 1,000th execution in the US approaches, Amnesty International, along with a broad spectrum of human rights organizations, social justice groups, and concerned individuals, is calling on US State and Federal authorities to put an immediate end to all executions. "The death penalty is by nature ineffective, arbitrary and does not deter crime. On the contrary, it creates more victims and demeans society as a whole," said Amnesty International. A disproportionate number of those executed in the USA in the past 3 decades were economically disadvantaged, people of colour, and those who had little or no access to competent counsel. Many suffered from mental retardation or were child offenders - groups that are exempt from the death penalty under international human rights standards. Others suffered severe mental illness. Many were executed while serious questions remained concerning their guilt -- to date 122 people have been released from death rows across the country on grounds of wrongful conviction. Furthermore, 80% of all executions haven been carried out in the South and concentrated in only a handful of states. Nearly half of the 1,000 executions that have taken place in the US occurred in 2 states, Texas and Virginia. New York, Illinois and New Jersey have a hold on executions and numerous questions are being raised across the country regarding the fairness and effectiveness of the capital punishment system. In recent years the US Supreme Court has banned the execution of the mentally retarded and child offenders. This shows that is possible to end the use of the death penalty in the US in the near future. What is now needed is for political leaders at both the federal and state level to demonstrate courage, wisdom, and leadership and end the death penalty once and for all." "The victims of violent crime deserve respect, compassion and justice. The death penalty offers none of these things. It is an illusory solution to pressing social problems and merely amounts to a failure of political vision," said Amnesty International. "The resources spent on these executions could have been invested in comprehensive rehabilitation, meaningful victims services, and other crime prevention programmes or even used to reinforce existing law enforcement efforts." 121 countries have abolished the death penalty worldwide in law or practice. "The execution of 1,000 men and women by the state has resulted in immeasurable human costs - for the victims of violent crime, for the families of those who were executed, and for those who participated in these state-sanctioned killings. It is time for the US to realize the ultimate futility of the death penalty and follow the global trend towards abolition. (source: Amnesty International) **************** Human Rights and Victim Justice (Renny Cushing is the Executive Director and Susannah Sheffer is the staff writer of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights Membership is open to all victims' family members who oppose the death penalty in all cases. MVFHR, 2161 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02140; 617/491-9600; www.murdervictimsfamilies.org. ) Is the death penalty such a clear violation of human rights that it should be prohibited even if some nations want to practice it, or is the death penalty simply a criminal sanction that countries should be allowed to impose if they believe it is effective? This was the heart of the debate among the representatives of 53 countries attending the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland this past April. Representatives from some of the countries -- the United States among them -- argued that the death penalty is not an issue the international community should take up, and that individual countries should have the right to retain it. In the end, the Commission passed a resolution condemning the death penalty and urging countries to abolish it. The US was among the 17 countries voting against the resolution. Clearly there is not yet a consensus, either worldwide, or, certainly, within the US, that executions are violations of human rights. But, increasingly, those in the death penalty abolition movement are coming to believe that it is useful to frame the death penalty as a human rights issue rather than as a criminal justice issue. If we argue that executions violate human rights, then it is harder for those who support the death penalty to claim that countries that want to retain it should be allowed to do so. After all, human rights, by definition, are not for governments to extend or deny; they transcend political boundaries and political concerns. If the death penalty is a violation of human rights, then it has no place in society no matter what form of government or criminal justice system a nation has. It seems simple enough to assert that executions violate Articles 3 and 5 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights -- the right to life, and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment. Yet this assertion by itself may not be enough to sway people toward abolition. In addition to seeing the death penalty as a criminal sanction that ought to be available, many people believe that imposing the death penalty is a way of achieving justice for victims. The "victims' rights" movement has raised awareness of the fact that victims too are stakeholders in the criminal justice process, and victims' rights laws -- which now exist in most states -- establish that victims should be informed, present, and heard at critical stages during that process, and should be treated with compassion, respect, and dignity. The voices of those who have lost loved ones to homicide have a great deal of power in the death penalty debate. The long-time death penalty abolitionists who formed the organization Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights in 2004 recognized this power and added to it the belief that highlighting the link between victims' rights and human rights will help move us toward abolition. It's interesting to remember that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that sets forth the most basic principles regarding the value of human life and the way human beings ought to treat one another, was inspired by victims, demanded by victims. It grew out of the suffering of millions of civilians murdered under the brutal regimes of the Second World War, and its adoption on December 10, 1948 was a way to honor the loss of these lives by asserting that such violations are neither moral nor permissible under any nation or regime. In more recent times, however, it has sometimes seemed as though the victims' rights movement and the human rights -- or death penalty abolition -- movements are speaking different languages. Historically, the victims' movement has asserted that every human life has value and that the taking of any one life by murder represents a theft whose impact will be felt forever. Victims' rights are, therefore, a way of trying to counterbalance that original violation with a reassertion of human dignity. Historically, the death penalty abolition movement has recognized that every human life has value and that the taking of any one life by the state replicates the very violation it is supposedly designed to redress. These are in fact both human rights claims, yet abolitionists and victims' rights advocates often fail to recognize these commonalities or to internalize each other's perspectives. For MVFHR, both the death penalty and individual murder are violations of fundamental human rights. We believe that those who are outraged when the state kills should be equally outraged when an individual kills, and should therefore make a real effort to understand the effects of murder and to consider and incorporate the victim's perspective into their work. We believe that those who are outraged by an individual murder should likewise be outraged when the state takes another human life, and should therefore make a real effort to understand and consider the effects of a state system of execution. Justice for victims -- whose human rights have been so completely violated -- does not come from violating the human rights of others. Justice, instead, must come in another way, and that way must include a recognition of the worth and dignity of all and a willingness to work toward a world that upholds, rather than denies, the value of human life. (source: AFSC) ******************** Witness to Innocence Calls for an Immediate End to Executions -- Statement on the 1000th Execution in the United States This week, our country marks the 1000th time that an individual will be put to death at the hands of the state. The United States will carry out the 1000th execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, the 1000th ritual killing done in the name of "justice." During these past 3 decades, 122 people have been exonerated and released from death row, innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. For every 8 people executed during this period, one was exonerated. Our government's failure rate in the administration of the death penalty has been the most stunning example of a barbaric policy gone awry. The convictions and death sentences of innocent people throughout the United States have been a human rights violation of catastrophic proportions. The members of Witness to Innocence know better than anyone the dangers inherent in our broken death penalty system. We are individuals who were sentenced to death and lost years of our lives on death row, waiting to be killed by our government for something we did not do. We were sent to death row and lived to tell about it, and today we spread our message to communities throughout the United States. We are also family members of the exonerated who, like our loved ones sentenced to death, had our lives ripped apart by an unfair system more concerned with convicting a person than convicting the right person. Our experience makes it clear to us that our criminal justice system cannot guarantee that an innocent person will not be sentenced to death or executed. Despite our incredibly trying and traumatic ordeals, we remain the fortunate ones. Of the more than 3,400 people sitting on death rows across America today, how many are as innocent as we were? How many will be killed by the state for crimes they did not commit? How many of the 1000 individuals already executed were guilty of nothing more than being poor or people of color, exterminated despite their innocence so that "justice" could be served? The death penalty has, by any reasonable account, been an utter failure. As individuals who have experienced its failure firsthand, we call on our elected leaders to demonstrate prudence and courage and to make this archaic punishment a remnant of our past. We call for an immediate end to all executions in the United States. (source: Witness to Innocence, a project of The Moratorium Campaign, is spearheaded by exonerated ex-death row prisoners to bring to light the crisis of wrongful convictions in death sentencing in the United States. For more information, or to arrange a speaking event in your community, contact Kurt Rosenberg at 215-243-0505 or write to mail to: [email protected] ********************** The death penalty is always final----System allows for deaths of the innocent. In the past 32 years, 122 people have walked away from death row, cleared of the horrible crimes they were convicted of committing. That number includes 3 people in Missouri. In the past 28 years, 997 inmates have been executed. That was the year a 10-year moratorium on executions ended. 3 more men are scheduled to die this week. That will push the number to 1,000. If our justice system were dispassionate and perfect, that number would be a grim reminder that we live in a world where people do evil, horrendous things. Actions have consequences and criminals must be punished. However, our courts are far from spotless. We cannot confidently and comfortably say that no innocent person has ever been executed. If we are honest with ourselves, we are left not to wonder whether one person has been killed for a crime he didn't commit. Rather, the question is how many have wrongly died. There's no way to know for certain. Many of the cases are long-forgotten. However, legitimate concerns have been raised in at least two of those cases. One is the case of a Missouri man, Larry Griffin, put to death by the state in 1995. The state used our tax dollars to execute Griffin for the death of a 19-year-old drug dealer. In his court case, the prosecution relied on the testimony of a career criminal. A police officer whose own testimony corroborated the informant's tale has recently stated the man was lying. Another case of a presumably innocent man being executed happened in Texas. The state executed Ruben Cantu for killing one man and wounding another in a robbery attempt. Ten years after Cantu's execution, the lone witness in the case changed his story. He now insists Cantu was innocent. Most jailhouse informants wouldn't care to set the record straight. How many others are out there who have led to innocent people being convicted and executed? Are there only 2? Are there dozens? How many innocent people should be executed so that we can exact state-sponsored revenge on truly guilty killers? A system that allows for the execution of even one innocent person is a faulty system. Ironically, one pro-death penalty group is called Throw Away The Key. We have the ability to do just that. Now, when a convicted killer is set for execution it draws hordes of protesters as well as journalists to cover the news of the appeals and the demonstrations. Without the death penalty, there also would not be the accompanying circus. We could throw away the key. And there wouldn't be any innocent people killed for crimes they didn't commit. It is wrong for any innocent person to spend time in prison. That mistake can be fixed. A dead man can't be brought back to life. We should put a halt to this system to prevent such mistakes. (source: The News-Leader) CALIFONRIA: Crips founder Williams deserves death sentence As the Dec. 13 execution date for Stanley "Tookie" Williams approaches, opponents of the death penalty have begun organizing high-profile protests to save the life of the co-founder of the Crips street gang. Little concern has been expressed for the four people Williams was convicted of killing in 1979. Williams, 51, continues to deny his guilt despite overwhelming evidence, including testimony from his accomplices. His defenders say he has redeemed himself by turning his life around in prison and being active in anti-gang efforts. While his recent work is admirable, it doesn't come close to balancing out the violent deaths of a 7-Eleven clerk and three members of a family that ran a motel in Los Angeles. Williams has had his conviction reconsidered in a lengthy appeals process, and the results have never changed: He is still convicted of killing 4 people in two separate robberies with a shotgun that he had purchased. There is a movement under way to create an image of Williams that is at odds with the facts. For starters, he has not been a model citizen, according to authorities who have kept records on him since the awful murders. Williams tried to escape prior to his trial in 1981. Then he threatened the jury that convicted him. He was involved in a violent fight with another inmate at San Quentin 2 months after his arrival. He threatened correctional officers and twice threw chemical substances at his guards. To this day, Williams refuses to be debriefed by prison authorities about the actual activities of his gang. He says that would make him a "snitch." Does that suggest Williams wants to make up for his gang activity? Sounds like he's still a gang member. In a written statement, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley says Williams' recent turnaround must be weighed against the gang that he helped create. The Crips are violent and predatory, and chapters are now active across the nation and in several other countries. While many reasonable and sincere people oppose the death penalty, California voters have repeatedly supported its use. Tookie Williams was fairly tried and convicted, and he should get the punishment that our state's court system says he deserves - death by legal injection. (source: Opinion, Modesto Bee) ******************** Rehabilitate a Man, Sentence Him to Death California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he would consider granting clemency to Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a murdering gang member sentenced to death for his part in 4 killings committed during 2 separate armed robberies. Of course, Tookie probably killed a lot more people than that. I say this not just because it is a strong statistical probability, given Tookie's youthful pattern of behavior (i.e. shooting folks), but because Tookie is one of the 2 founding fathers of the "Crips" drug gang, which along with the "Bloods" turned Los Angeles into a war zone during the Crack epidemic of the 1980s. Even today, decades after Tookie was taken away from his illegitimate brainchild, his creation continues to murder, rob, rape, steal, extort, assault and maim. And, as is true of any other gangster, Tookie is responsible for the crimes of his underlings just as assuredly as he is for his own. So why is anyone campaigning for clemency? Well, because Tookie is good people now. You see, Bad Tookie, the one who killed people and started a nationwide gang of drug-pushing thugs, no longer exists. Now there is only Good Tookie. Good Tookie writes childrens books and believes that killing people is just plain wrong. These philosophical accomplishments have so impressed some that Tookie was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the credibility and stature of which grows with every new round of nominations. Good Tookie made his 1st appearance in prison and is the result of a remarkable personal rehabilitation. This rehabilitation did not happen overnight. At first Tookie couldnt care less about his sins and victims (all of whom remain dead, I'm told), but as the appeals process became increasingly exhausted, he increasingly saw the error of his ways. If only California would apply its death penalty more swiftly, we might have known Good Tookie sooner. But since a drug dealer on death row has a longer average lifespan than one still on the street, the emergence of this peace-loving butterfly understandably took some time. Tookie, both Bad and Good, had his days in court, where not even the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could find substantive fault with his convictions, which is remarkable in itself. And now his execution finally looms, set optimistically for December 13. But Tookie did win one appeal--his appeal to the Court of Liberal America, centered in Hollywood, Calif. There, Tookie's the poster child of - well, where to begin? He seems to be the living symbol of redemption, prison education, poverty, black victimhood, institutional racism, youth outreach, death penalty abolition, and denim-clad prison philiospher-gurus. Hes had a movie made about him, Redemption, starring Jamie Foxx. Danny Glover and Snoop Dog are firmly on his side. Anti-American international human rights crusaders and their domestic enablers see him as a Jesus figure, except they like him. The Nobel committee was obviously impressed. And it is probably just a matter of time before he is legally adopted by Angelina Jolie. All in all, the transformation of Tookie is a fine example of the unheralded power of the death penalty to rehabilitate. Tookie is not alone however. Dozens of cold-blooded killers have become writers, poets, lawyers, evangelical preachers, youth ministers, civil rights crusaders, animal lovers and professionally contrite appellants while awaiting execution. Consider Karla Faye Tucker. She was the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. I know she filled this important first for women because the media invariably affixed that fact to her as though it were part of a hyphenated surname: Karla Faye Tucker became the 1st woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. In addition to being a pioneer for post-bellum feminism, Karla Faye was a "born-again" Christian. This was the only fact the media seemed to be more enamored with than her place in the history of the criminal womens movement. Evangelical Christianity would have disqualified her from holding high office in their eyes, but they believed it made her a more pitiable gurney jockey, so they ran with it. Her conversion occurred on death row, of course. Before her rehabilitation, she killed a man and a woman with an ice axe while robbing them for drug money. She straddled the victims as she repeatedly plunged the pick into their begging bodies, and afterwards she bragged that their panicked death throes had caused her to orgasm as she killed them. But then Karla Faye found Jesus somewhere in the appeals process and decided that it had all been wrong. Indeed, she felt so bad about it, that she married her prison minister. The same sociopath who had felt so very good in such a very intimate way about killing people with her own hands (and they remain dead, I'm told), was later helped to rediscover Jesus Christ, conversational politeness, and girlish hair bows by that miracle of the justice system: impending death. One could fill a thick book with the stories of other such soulless human hazards that have been turned into pleasant community-minded people by some quiet time with their own scheduled mortality. Can we ever afford to lose this, perhaps the greatest, force for rehabilitation in our justice system? If you believe in rehabilitation, how can you not believe in the death penalty? Nothing seems to trigger complete rehabilitation more surely than a death sentence. I am all for such rehabilitation. Let's rehabilitate all child killers. Lets rehabilitate most murderers of adults. Let's rehabilitate all the poor misguided souls at Guantanamo. Heck, let's rehabilitate a few email spammers while were at it. But let's rehabilitate them all a little faster than we have in the past. Why deny the rehabilitated the joy of understanding the value of decent human life one more day than is necessary? Good Tookie has said he wants to serve as an example for Americas troubled youth. On December 13, perhaps he finally will. And then maybe they can work on their rehabilitations while such things still matter. (source: Human Events; Mr. Mac Johnson, a writer and medical researcher in Cambridge, MA., is a regular contributor to Human Events) ARKANSAS----impending execution Nance Facing Execution Tonight in Arkansas Death Chamber Condemned killer Eric Nance is to die by lethal injection tonight. Lawyers for Nance are still seeking a halt to the execution. But Nance has ordered his last meal and he is to spend today visiting with his spiritual adviser and his attorney. The 45-year-old Nance was sentenced to death for the 1993 slaying of 18-year-old Julie Heath of Malvern. Her throat had been cut with a boxcutter. Nance has a motion pending in federal court seeking extra time to mount an appeal. Nance's lawyers have asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis to overturn a lower court ruling that would have allowed time to explore evidence in the case. Tonight's execution is to be at 8 p.m. (source: KATV News) MISSISSIPPI: Death penalty sought in killings----Defense attorney says jury selection will be key to outcome Key courtroom figures James Powell: District Attorney since 1996, has tried other capital murder cases. Wesley Evans: Canton lawyer is the court appointed defense attorney. Judge Jannie Lewis: Circuit judge for Holmes, Humphreys and Yazoo counties, she has presided over several other high-profile murder trials. Canton lawyer Wesley Evans expects a battle defending Earnest Lee Hargon against charges he killed three members of his family, including a 4-year-old boy. A conviction could mean a death sentence for the former cattle truck driver. Jury selection in the capital murder trial begins today. Evans said the trial could be especially challenging because of the emotional intensity that comes with 3 victims, a problem he hopes to head off during jury selection and with the presentation of mitigating evidence. Jury selection will be paramount to his defense - at least for a potential sentencing phase - he said, as the prosecution angles to hold on to jurors who favor the death penalty. Hargon timeline Jan. 3, 2004: Charles Hargon changes his will to leave his Madison County farm to great-nephew Michael Hargon instead of his son, Earnest Lee Hargon. He dies Jan. 16, 2004. Feb. 14, 2004: Michael Hargon, his wife, Rebecca, and their 4-year-old son, James, are found missing from their Vaughan home. Feb. 27, 2004: Authorities take Earnest Lee Hargon into custody at his home on Smith County Road 19 for questioning. Feb. 29, 2004: Officials announce they have charged Earnest Lee Hargon with methamphetamine possession. He had an AR-15 assault weapon in his possession. March 1, 2004: The bodies of Michael, Rebecca and James Hargon are found buried in the woods off Mississippi 27 in Covington County. Earnest Lee Hargon is charged with 3 counts of capital murder. March 5, 2004: More than 300 people attend a funeral Mass for the Hargons at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Canton. Aug. 2, 2004: Earnest Lee Hargon pleads innocent in Yazoo County Circuit Court after he is indicted on 3 counts of capital murder. Today: Jury selection begins in Marshall County for Earnest Lee Hargon's capital murder trial. Jurors will be transported to Yazoo County for the trial. "Any time you have a death of child, you are going to have a lot more people predisposed to the death penalty, and that's something that we're going to have to look out for," said Evans, who is court-appointed. District Attorney James Powell has tried at least 4 capital murder cases in Yazoo County since he took office in 1996, but none has resulted in the death penalty. This time jurors will be selected in Marshall County, in an effort to find a panel that hasn't been exposed to pre-trial publicity, and transported to Yazoo. Marshall County jurors rarely have heard a capital murder case where the death sentence was sought. The last time a jury in the county handed down the death penalty was in 1997. That was the 1st time since the 1930s that a Marshall County jury had recommended a death sentence. Inmates languish on death row and their cases sometimes have to be re-examined to reconsider issues such as mental capability. "And nobody looks at what these people did to get there," Powell said. "It's like the victims and the crimes themselves are forgotten and it becomes a personal and political issue. "It's just hard to get a jury who will actually vote to impose it (the death penalty) when it actually comes down to it." Vaughan, a rural community north of Canton, became the focus of national attention last year when Michael Hargon, 27, a construction worker, Rebecca Hargon, 29, a physical therapy assistant, and their son, James Patrick, went missing from their home on Valentine's Day. Shell casings, drops of blood and their son's asthma medicine were left behind. Their bodies were found in woods off Mississippi 37 in Covington County 3 weeks later. Authorities said Earnest Lee Hargon told them where the bodies were buried. Law enforcement officials think Michael Hargon was killed Feb. 14 last year at home, and his wife and son were alive when they were taken away with Michael's body in the same car. The family feared the worst in the 17-day search leading up to the discovery. They sobbed, stood vigil, passed out fliers and promised rewards for the family's safe return. Law enforcement bloodhounds scoured for clues. Evans said he wants jurors who are open to mitigating evidence and ones "who are open-minded, people who won't just make up their mind as soon as the guilt phase is over with." Those mitigating issues will involve "childhood issues, other issues going into adulthood," he said without elaborating. Evans said the prosecution's strongest piece of evidence is a purported statement Hargon made to investigators, which Yazoo County Circuit Judge Jannie Lewis recently ruled would be allowed at trial. Earnest Lee Hargon testified he gave a law enforcement officer a statement with the hope it would prevent his wife from being prosecuted. Evans said it was unusual how it was taken, in the parking lot of a Kmart a few blocks from the Yazoo City district attorney's office. "It's going to be a tough case, but it won't be as black and white as the prosecution is leading people to believe," Evans said. The prosecution has pointed to a will as a potential motive in the slayings. Earnest Lee Hargon's adoptive father, the late Charles Hargon, changed his will 13 days before his Jan. 16, 2004, death. Charles Hargon excluded Earnest Lee Hargon and, instead, left his Madison County farm to Michael Hargon, his great-nephew. Powell expects jury selection to last about three days and hopes to have his case wrapped up by Saturday. He said his case will be heavy on direct evidence, such as eye witness testimony, confessions or DNA. "I never have had an entire family killed before," Powell said. Evans said his defense will probably last a day or so. One family member said the Hargons still are overwhelmed by sadness and incomprehension. The family has been hit with one tragedy after another through the years. Diana Hargon, Michael's mother, died this month after a battle with colon cancer. In 1994, Dan Haywood Hargon, Diana Hargon's husband, was fatally shot during a robbery. His brother, James Patrick, died in 1988 following complications from surgery. A cousin of Michael Hargon, Nina Higgins, said she has no explanation for the string of tragedies in her family. Higgins, 67, of Beebe, Ark., said she is not sure whether she'll be able to attend the trial. Like others in her family, she is still devastated and torn. "It's mixed emotions because even though he was not a blood relative, he was still considered a member of the family," she said. "It's really hard for me to say whether I would want him put to death or not." (source: Clarion-Ledger) **************** Death penalty looms, stirring debate again Once again Mississippi faces another execution: John Nixon, 77, on death row over 3 decades. People are born and people die in two decades. People grow up, go to school, get a degree, marry and begin raising a family in two decades. So much can happen in 2 decades, so much forgotten. Yet some things can never be forgotten. Memories can linger throughout a lifetime like open wounds, never heal, never be resolved. People can be chained to their memories more secure than in prison. Some things can never be undone. The taking of a life can never be undone. The pain never goes away No human act can ever, in any way, restore a loved one who is killed. No human act can ever replace a murdered loved one which is why the pain never goes away. When one person is murdered many lives are changed forever, and no human act can ever change that. A face and a name 20 years old, John Nixon, 77, white hair, grizzled beard. He was a hit man. Carried out a contract murder. Twenty years later on death row, forgotten to all but the victim's family, and the system, he reemerges to be put to death by the state. A death for a death. Justice. But the pain never goes away. It never will. Pro Life people talk about a culture of death and a culture of life. Boil it down, God creates life, God takes life. People, butt out! The Birmingham News says, "Abolish the Death Penalty." The paper cites numerous problems with a system it says "is broken." It ran six editorials last week arguing Alabama should do away with the death penalty for life without parole. The perpetrator is removed forever from society, which remains safe. "Even if all the flaws disappeared, executions should be halted to promote a culture of life," the paper says. "We believe all life is sacred. And in embracing a culture of life, we cannot make distinctions between those we deem 'innocents' and those flawed humans who populate death row." The debate goes on. The pain never goes away. Culture of death and culture of life. What does that really mean? What is justice when the pain never goes away? Can this exquisite pain something like grief, rage, urge for revenge, helpless abandonment, anger all stewed in a witches gumbo, toxic, yet addictive ever be relieved? A toxic witches brew The living victims are cooking in that witches brew, that they never can get away from. Their loved one will never come back. Nothing can ever change that. No amount of executions can fill the void inside them. A culture of death. A culture of life says that from death comes life. Life means change, movement, growth. When growth stops, when change stops, movement stops, everything is inert, like a rock. We hear of heroic people trapped in avalanches. They are rescued and tell us how they survived. They endured the unthinkable, but they live. They not only live, they witness to life over death. The Christian tradition speaks about life after death. Is freezing an experience and holding on with desperate tenacity like the gangrenous limb, if left untreated spreads death throughout the body? Does a loved one want their survivor live a lifetime of dying? I don't think so. I think they want them to remember the good times until they are reunited again. Society deserves protection from bad people who do bad things. Lifetime incarceration until natural death can bring life through remorse and penance until the person faces the Eternal Perfect Judge who administers true justice. (source: Commentary, The Clarion-Ledger; The Rev. Jeremy Tobin is Newman Chaplain at Jackson State University and Hinds Community College and a member of the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Coalition)
