The Death Penalty

Unpleasant sight, isn't it?

Being strapped down for the lethal injection is the not best way to go out in this life, but unfortunately in several states like Texas this is not an uncommon form of punishment.

Here are some of my thoughts on this controversial matter.

Me being for the death penalty

Don't get the wrong idea here, I am not a true believer when it comes to killing criminals. I am just posting my thoughts on why I think it should be used for certain criminals.

Dylan Roof is a young, yet fanatical white supremacist, who was responsible for the murder of nine African-Americans in a South Carolina church was sentenced to death on January 11, 2017. He is still awaiting execution.

Paul Jennings Hill was an anti-abortion minister who murder abortion doctor John Britton and his bodyguard former USAF Lieutenant Colonel James H. Barrett, while wounding Barrett's wife. He was found guilty of the charges on December 6, 1994 and was given the lethal injection on September 3, 2003. His last words were "If you believe abortion is a lethal force, you should oppose the force and do what you have to do to stop it. May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected."

John Wayne Gacy known for killing 33 men and boys and was sentenced to death by lethal injection on March 10, 1994.

Dylan Roof was a mission-oriented killer who based his action on notions of racial purity and white supremacy.

Paul Jennings Hill and his mission-oriented killings were based on the anti-abortion movement and was suspected of having ties to the so-called "Army God" terrorist group responsible for the Olympic Park bombing in 1996.

With John Wayne Gacy however, he was not a mission-oriented killer. His scumbag father was a drunkard, who beat him and his siblings with a razor strap whenever they misbehaved, beat the mother too and was seen as a failure due to having a poor heart condition. He also was attracted to men, which caused problems for him. (1)

With Roof and Hill, I firmly believe that people like them deserve the death penalty because a message needs to be delivered to Christian Nationalists, White Supremacist's and other right-wing nutjobs that there are consequences for their actions.

With people like Gacy on the other hand, I can't say I oppose him get sentenced to death, but I don't really want to be the guy who was responsible for sentencing him to death. Gacy was as much a victim of violence as his victims.

Why I oppose the death penalty

Before Black Lives Matter and the killing of George Floyd, there was Troy Anthony Davis.

As you would figure, he was just another black man murdered by the state of Georgia on September 21, 2011 even though there was proof that he was innocent and that state just didn't care enough to stay his execution. (2)

His death, like many other others of his ethnicity, is one example of why I oppose the death penalty. "People" in power don't care if some black person dies by the state even if they are innocent.

The same could be said of people in poverty. "Philip Alston, the UN independent expert on poverty and human rights, said that the death penalty has got a big sign on it reading “reserved for the poor”.

“The death penalty is reserved for those who cannot buy themselves out of arrest, cannot afford legal representation, cannot afford a decent appeal, and carry no weight in the eyes of the government,” he said.

He emphasized that poverty leads to a violation of a wide range of human rights, calling for a comprehensive approach to address the deeper links between poverty and human rights." (3)

This is proof that the death penalty is flawed and the reason why I oppose it. If more rich, white "people" like Ethan Couch (4) were put on death row than people in poverty, then my argument would be different.

Conclusion

Whether or not you favor the death penalty, it is rather disgraceful that we as nation really need to move past the need for state sanctioned killing that justifies being tough on crime by going after people of color and low income status.

If the law really cared about being relevant to America and to the human race, I would not need to write this article.

(1)https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-wayne-gacy

(2)https://innocenceproject.org/remembering-troy-davis/

(3) https://www.ohchr.org/en/newsevents/pages/deathpenaltyisabane.aspx

(4) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-to-be-released-from-jail-after-alleged-probation-violation-is-questioned-today-2020-1-2/