Abolish The Death Penalty

Stanley "Tookie" Williams' date with death is fast approaching. I am not going to weigh in on Tookie Williams' history as founder of a violent street gang or his murder conviction, but what I am going to weigh in on is the death penalty in America.

Whatever the ultimate fate of Williams, I am AGAINST the death penalty. My heart goes out to him and the family of his victims, but the death penalty is archaic and reminiscent of lynchings that took place (and reportedly still do) throughout this great land of ours. There is no sensible reason why people should be dying of lethal poison in death chambers across America. Surely the Supreme Court of the United States made capital punishment legal in 1976, but it still doesn't make it right. What about true forgiveness? Many of the proponents of the death penalty are hypocrites. They are against abortion, but support the death penalty. They often scream at the top of their lungs they are pro-life, but support another kind of legalized death in their next breath. Some are the same people that would grant clemency to the dog that mauled the French woman, who ultimately needed a face transplant after the attack, than they would a locked down human being that finally found his or her way. Life is to be respected, and unfortunately that includes the lives of murderers.

Below, Florida botched the electric chair execution of Allen Lee Davis (aka "Tiny") on July 8, 1999. He was a pedophile and murderer of three, and after strapping him to the electric chair the equipment malfunctioned. They strapped it on again and burned him up until he was dead. There have been 1,000 homicides in legalized state death chambers since 1976, and there are still "street" homicides happening everyday in America. If the death penalty is a deterrent, why are homicides, many of which are heinous in nature, still happening? In Houston, there was a rash of 14 homicides over the Thanksgiving weekend. This is ironic especially considering Texas is the top death penalty state in the country. If it were a country unto itself, Texas would lead the world in government sanctioned murder. Its death penalty and robust death chamber did not stop James Byrd, Jr. from being dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas nor did it stop 14 homicides from happening in Houston over Thanksgiving.

Although crime and homicide rates are at a 30-year low according to the FBI, it is likely due to improved quality of life in America - not the death penalty.

Question. How are state sanctioned death penalty killings in America any different than the murderous beheadings of hostages by fanatics in the Middle East that everyone, including George W. Bush, found to be repulsive and barbaric? Are America's death chamber killings really different from a gruesome public square or back alley beheading because they happen in the confines of heavily secured buildings in the United States? How is the legalized death penalty different from lynching? How is a lethal injection or electric chair death less violent than an abortion? Better yet, how are killings in America's death chambers any different from a street killing in Jasper, Texas? No matter how it is sliced, it is all violence. It's all cruel and unusual.

Legally killing people is just as wrong and immoral, in my opinion, as people killing others for senseless and/or selfish reasons. It's all the same.

Abolish the death penalty, now!

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