German
soldiers captured as spies are tied to posts wearing marked American combat
fatigues during Post World War II.
German
soldiers captured as spies are tied to posts wearing marked American combat
fatigues during Post World War II.
Death penalty serves its purpose: Opinion
No person who has been executed ever killed again —- so in that regard the death penalty is a 100 percent deterrent.
Like retired homicide detective and columnist
Marshall Frank, who recently wrote
about the death penalty, I have 30 years' experience in law
enforcement — as a prosecutor.
I will respond to each of Mr.
Frank's (allegedly) “valid reasons” to abolish the death penalty.
1) Too many risks of executing the innocent.
In 2006, the
U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Kansas death penalty statute, against a
constitutional challenge. The court discussed the claim of execution of
the innocent, concluding they could not find a single instance of a person who
was executed and subsequently proven to he innocent — not one. See Kansas v. Marsh 548
U.S. 163.
2) Costs.
In 1997 I
wrote an article challenging the claim that the death penalty costs more than
life in prison. I explained how the costs to impose the death penalty
are increased by dilatory, duplicative appeals. See "The Federalist
Society: Criminal Law and Procedure News," Vol. 1, No. 3, page 5 (cited in
the Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 20, 2003).
In 1997 I wrote an article challenging the claim
that the death penalty costs more than life in prison. I explained how
the costs to impose the death penalty are increased by dilatory,
duplicative appeals. See "The Federalist Society: Criminal Law and
Procedure News," Vol. 1, No. 3, page 5 (cited in the Christian Science
Monitor, Feb. 20, 2003).
In 1997, the Florida
Supreme Court’s McDonald Commission Report found gross budget
mismanagement by the state agency that handles death penalty
appeals. Mismanagement was so egregious the legislature had to reorganize
the whole agency to impose fiscal responsibility.
As for the “reason” that keeping inmates on death
row for decades is so expensive, there are two obvious retorts. First: Execute
them quicker so they don’t stay there for decades. Second, that same cost
would be incurred to incarcerate them for life.
More relevant is that if you look at the cost
numbers used for comparing life incarceration to imposing the death penalty,
you’ll notice death-penalty opponents are cooking the books. They use
today’s cost of incarceration throughout the anticipated lifespan of the
inmate, rather than costs adjusted for inflation. Nor do they
include costs of geriatric care for aging inmates — an increasing portion
of the prison system budget.
3) No deterrent.
No person who has been executed ever killed
again — so in that regard the death penalty is a 100 percent
deterrent. As for “studies” about the death penalty, I refer you to
Justice Antonin Scalia’s concurring opinion in Kansas v. Marsh (cited earlier).
He exposes anti-death penalty “studies” for the frauds they are.
4) Violates the Eighth Amendment.
Not according to the U.S. Supreme Court, the
Florida Supreme Court — or reading of the rationale for that amendment at
the time it was written. What that amendment prohibits was the way criminals
had been executed — such as being hanged drawn and quartered, or
broken on a wheel.
5)
Economic inequities.
According
to Frank, “Some court-appointed attorneys have been known to be over the
hill." Every death penalty imposed in Florida has a mandatory appeal
process by which the performance of the defense attorney is subject to review
for ineffectiveness. If the attorney’s performance is found wanting, or in any
way deficient, the death penalty is overturned and the defendant gets a new
trial.
6)
Barbarism.
One man’s
"barbarism" is another man’s "justice." I’ve conferred
with the surviving family members of murder victims more times than I care to
remember. Most of the time the only thing they find
"barbaric" is the fact the murderer is "getting off
easy" by being put to sleep the same way they would humanely deal
with a sick family pet.
7)
Eighteen states have banned the death penalty.
Which
means 32 states have the death penalty. So what is the point?
8)
Execution by injection is not punishment.
Frank has
me there. But that’s a “valid reason” for going back to "Old
Sparky" or hanging — not for abolishing the death penalty.
9) It can
be argued that perpetuating the death penalty basically endorses
state-sponsored murder.
Or, it
can be argued that the state imposing the death penalty replaces personal
vendettas, and multi-generational feuds — which history demonstrates were
common before the government assumed the role of executioner.
10)
People change.
And often
they don’t — as proved by the recidivism rates.
If Mr.
Frank opposes the death penalty on personal, or moral, grounds, I
respect that. But he shouldn’t try to justify changing a public policy,
supported by a majority of Florida voters, with specious “reasons” that really
aren’t.
Gary
Beatty lives in Sharpes. He is board certified in criminal trial law by the
Florida Bar and is a Distinguished Faculty Member of the Florida
Prosecuting Attorney’s Association.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/07/07/death-penalty-serves-its-purpose-opinion/103502698/
Maybe you should get the death penalty
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