Would you trust your life to a system that is only accurate 89 percent of the time?
Well, many states across the country do, including Indiana. Every day, we entrust matters of life and death to a capital punishment system that rightly convicts only eight out of every nine people. This propensity toward error is one of the reasons why the capital punishment system in this country is broken and needs to be abolished.
My arguments on this matter deal not with morals, but with facts. I realize that by using moral arguments, I'm no more likely to convince someone that "eye-for-an-eye" justice is repulsive than someone is to convince me that punishing murderers with state-sanctioned murder is acceptable. I believe I have a better chance of changing minds through evidence and education.
The death penalty has a record of error in this nation. An 89-percent success rate might be enough for a B+ in class, but is unacceptable when dealing with human life. It is human nature to make mistakes and the judicial system, though highly deliberative, still makes many errors.
Since 1973, 117 men have been exonerated from death row after false convictions. Imagine if the irreversible punishment had already been applied before these mistakes were discovered.
Secondly, the death penalty is enormously costly. Most people would find it surprising to learn that life imprisonment is actually cheaper than the death penalty. Sure, the state must pay room and board for many years, but those fees are actually nothing compared to the court costs and legal fees that come with specialized capital trials and mandatory appeals.
A 2002 report from the Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission found that the costs of maintaining Indiana's death penalty system exceed the projected costs of maintaining a life-without-parole system by 38 percent. Instead of raising taxes, Mitch Daniels should pay for a new Colts stadium by abolishing the death penalty.
The death penalty also lacks a necessary component of punishment -- a deterrent effect. Of course no one wants to die, but that does not mean that people stop committing capital crimes in order to avoid death.
The vast majority of homicides are committed during the "heat of the moment" and are sometimes referred to as "crimes of passion." Often, drugs or alcohol are involved. In either scenario, the criminal's mind is not acting in a logical manner and, therefore, the criminal is not concerned with the consequences of his or her actions. In fact, states without the death penalty have lower homicide rates than states with capital punishment.
In my opinion, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is a much more attractive option.
Maximum security prisons are no cakewalk. I cannot comprehend having to sit in a small cell for 23 hours a day for the rest of my life with no other inmate contact. Any thought that this option is letting the criminals off easy is ridiculous.
My final point is this: Last year, 97 percent of all worldwide executions were done in China, Iran, Vietnam and the United States. At least we're in good company.
Write to Steve at
NawaraInTheDN@hotmail.com
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