tapman.net

This article in the New York Times, link, about the death penalty problems is chilling. I particularly like the statement “poor people getting lousy lawyers” in regards to the real problems with the death penalty.

I’m staunchly against the death penalty despite knowing full well that I’d personally want to kill anyone that killed or seriously hurt someone I loved. Of course, the point of the justice system isn’t to provide that type of emotional relief and there’s no place for personal feelings when it comes to deciding the fate of someone’s life.

We can judge ourselves by the way we handle difficult situations like crime and punishment. I’m confident that we would be a better people if we accepted the adequacy of life sentences instead of death sentences, especially because we cannot be sure we are executing the right person for the right reason all of the time. In this situation mistakes are too often fatal.