As the death penalty seems to be in the news tonight, I thought I’d share my thoughts.
My feelings are not complex: I am not opposed to the death penalty as a concept. I believe that there are some crimes so heinous, that display such a complete disregard for your fellow humans, that it is not unreasonable to deprive the person who commits those crimes of his life.
That said, I am well aware that the American judicial system has massive systemic problems, and that as a result, the death penalty can be (and has been) imposed on people who were not guilty. And that is a terrible wrong. If we cannot prevent innocents from being put to death then we shouldn’t do it at all.
Or put more simply, the American justice system does not work perfectly, but I still think that some really evil bastards deserve to fry for what they did.
I think the death penalty is uncivilized but if we’re going to have it we should have some accountability. If a person is executed and is then later judged to be innocent then the judge and prosecutor should be executed. That would help bring a measure of certainty to the matter.