Death by State
From the Washington Post article:
The death penalty is a morally troubling idea. As an agnostic, even I believe that no one but God can decide pure right and wrong. It is a logical inconsistent position to advocate a "pro-life" position and believe in the death penalty. It shames this country that the death penalty is used. From the quotations of the Washington Post above, there is significant doubt as to whether Stanley Williams comitted the crimes he was executed for. Until these doubts are assuaged, however, he should have been serving life in prison without parole. That is a defendable position. Death is not. If he is proven innocent tomorrow, nothing can be done. He is dead, executed by lethal injection.
On another note, Rita Cosby, the MSNBC anchor, was a media witness to his execution. She is guilty as an accessory to horrible crime (maybe not murder, if he was actually guilty), maybe manslaughter or at least the state subjecting a citizen to "cruel and unusual punishment". In the developed world, capital punishment is unusual. Most countries have outlawed it; in fact, a ban on capital punishment is a precondition of EU accession. Why won't the U.S. join in, with all the possibilities of wrongful execution, which is state-sanctioned murder?
One of his supporters watching the execution raised a fist in the air. Another, on the way out, said "the state of California has executed an innocent man." A relative of one of his victims cried, according to a witness.
Just before the governor announced his decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied Williams's request for a reprieve. The court said that there was no "clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence." Late Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court also refused to block the execution.
Among the evidence against Williams was a shotgun shell discovered at the crime scene that was linked to a gun he had bought five years earlier. That weapon was found under the bed of two associates accused of killing their business partner. The murder charges against them were dropped after they testified that Williams had confessed to them.
The death penalty is a morally troubling idea. As an agnostic, even I believe that no one but God can decide pure right and wrong. It is a logical inconsistent position to advocate a "pro-life" position and believe in the death penalty. It shames this country that the death penalty is used. From the quotations of the Washington Post above, there is significant doubt as to whether Stanley Williams comitted the crimes he was executed for. Until these doubts are assuaged, however, he should have been serving life in prison without parole. That is a defendable position. Death is not. If he is proven innocent tomorrow, nothing can be done. He is dead, executed by lethal injection.
On another note, Rita Cosby, the MSNBC anchor, was a media witness to his execution. She is guilty as an accessory to horrible crime (maybe not murder, if he was actually guilty), maybe manslaughter or at least the state subjecting a citizen to "cruel and unusual punishment". In the developed world, capital punishment is unusual. Most countries have outlawed it; in fact, a ban on capital punishment is a precondition of EU accession. Why won't the U.S. join in, with all the possibilities of wrongful execution, which is state-sanctioned murder?
posted by Biafra27 at 2:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home