How to Get Rid of the Death Penalty
Before I give you my suggestion on the best way to get rid of the death penalty in this country, let me first reminisce:
Those of us old enough to remember the Johnny Carson Show will recall his Carnac the Magnificent routine where Johnny played the role of a swami who could divine the answers to a question inside a sealed envelope.
Johnny's jovial announcer and sidekick, Ed McMahon would always introduce the swami's mental prestidigitations with the disclaimer that the question was in an envelope and "kept in a hermetically sealed jar since noon today on Funk & Wagnalls' porch."
Carnac would hold the sealed envelope to his outrageously decorated turban and give the answer or answers to the question inside, never having seen the question before. Then he opened the envelope to reveal the question. For example:
Carnac the Magnificent: "At a white sale."
Ed McMahon (Always repeating the answer): "At a white sale."
Carnac the Magnificent (looking annoyed): "At a white sale."
Carnac the Magnificent opens the envelope and reads: "Where can you buy a cheap honky?" And laughter ensues.
Here's a set of answers the soothsaying swami never gave although it is absolutely true:
Carnac the Magnificent; "China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia."
The question inside the envelope? "What barbaric countries other than the United States still have the death penalty?"
I understand the primitive urge inside of all of us that needs vengeance meted out, however we must admit that justice is not perfect, that mistakes happen, and that many innocent people are convicted for a murder they did not commit. If my child were murdered I would certainly be the first one to joyfully volunteer to inject sulfuric acid into the veins of the guilty perpetrator; but only if I could be 100% sure of his guilt.
Sadly, statistics show that out of every 7 executions - 1 other prisoner on death row has been found innocent (1). Hmmm, the justice system in the U.S. as it is currently practiced is only a tad more fair than Russian roulette, although Russian roulette is usually played by those who choose to play the game. Innocents falsely convicted never asked to play.
Some of my readers will strongly object to my characterization of the death penalty as barbaric. They will ask, "What is barbaric in putting down an animal, a sub-human who takes the life of an innocent person?" I already wrote that if I knew at a certainty of 100% that someone murdered my child that I would not only want to see him killed but for him to suffer as well, for acid to burn through his skin, for his blood to boil in his veins. There is nothing barbaric in killing a brutal, vicious murderer.
No, what is barbaric is that we kill innocent people in our quest to punish evil, knowing that there are innocents and not caring enough to stop it. In a recent Gallup poll (2) a third of all Americans, 34%, believe an innocent person has been executed and at the same time support the death penalty. 34% of Americans believe an innocent person has been executed and still want the death penalty to continue. That is barbaric.
Our Justice System is not 100% Perfect
By the way, less than a third disagree with the statement that within the last five years, "a person has been executed under the death penalty who was, in fact, innocent of the crime he or she was charged with." Those that comprise this one-third are idiots. Anyone who thinks we do not execute innocent people, that any system of justice is 100% perfect, is a complete moron, but I suppose they have to lie to themselves that they are not barbarians because if no innocents are killed then they can continue to support the death penalty. I say, if you are a heartless, barbaric, low-life that doesn't care if innocent people are killed then simply admit it.
The Solution
I believe the solution is as follows: we have a national referendum. Those who are in favor of the death penalty agree to have their name put into a pool so that if a murder goes unsolved a name is picked out of the pool and that person is automatically convicted of the crime and scheduled for execution. This way, if the death penalty does pass, at least those in favor of killing innocent people will have a chance to be one of those innocents.
Doesn't seem fair to you? Why not? That's the system we have now. If a prosecutor can't find the real murderer they find someone, anyone, who can take the fall.
ENDNOTES
(1):
US News, The wrong men on Death Row
After years of debate, most Americans now believe the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for the most repulsive murders. But that support is rooted in an underlying assumption: that the right person is being executed. The most recent list by an antideath-penalty group shows that Gary Gauger is one of 74 men exonerated and freed from death row over the past 25 years–a figure so stark it's causing even some supporters of capital punishment to rethink whether the death penalty can work fairly. Among them is Gerald Kogan, who recently stepped down as chief justice of Florida's Supreme Court. "If one innocent person is executed along the way, then we can no longer justify capital punishment," he says.
...
For every 7 executions–486 since 1976–1 other prisoner on death row has been found innocent. And there's concern even more mistaken convictions will follow as record numbers of inmates fill death rows, pressure builds for speedy executions, and fewer attorneys defend prisoners facing execution.
(2):
Gallup, 13 Oct 2009, In U.S., Two-Thirds Continue to Support Death Penalty
this year's poll finds 59% of Americans agreeing that within the last five years, "a person has been executed under the death penalty who was, in fact, innocent of the crime he or she was charged with." A little less than a third disagree.
...
However, for many Americans, agreement with the assertion that innocent people have been put to death does not preclude simultaneous endorsement of the death penalty. A third of all Americans, 34%, believe an innocent person has been executed and at the same time support the death penalty. This is higher than the 23% who believe an innocent person has been executed and simultaneously oppose the death penalty.
