I can’t believe it’s been a year since I began writing about innocence. My work with families of innocent persons who are or have been wrongly incarcerated continues with painfully slow progress, but we refuse to quit. There have been positive changes in the awareness of the incarcerated innocent person, and the tragedy of wrongful convictions is entering the getting national attention. There are too many of us working against this issue for us not to be heard.
Of course other social, political, and economic issues crowd the horizons of interest. Joblessness and homelessness gather their own misery. Worries about the economy, losing one’s employment and/or home dominate the thoughts of millions of Americans, and I’m in complete sympathy with each and every person who suffers with those fears. For now, the full impact of conviction and incarceration of innocent persons must take a temporary back seat until those economic suffers regain an emotional and financial footing.
Today I want to add another dimension to our discussion of innocence, and that is the impact the death penalty has on innocence.
What we haven’t spoken of is the fact that in light of several hundred individuals being exonerated there lingers the grim potential of innocent persons waiting on death row. Out of all the people we have legally murdered in this country, we must not be fooled into believing that we haven’t put to death our share of innocent persons.
In spite of all the verifiable evidence and research proving that the death penalty has no impact on preventing future capitol crimes (conviction of a capitol crime can result in a death penalty), there remains that segment of our society who believes legalized murder of specific individuals is appropriate. Included in that particular sliver of citizenry are state and federal legislators, who refuse to be influenced by verifiable evidence.
Last spring I spent many days at the state capital listening to legislators speak for and against abolishing the death penalty. It was an impressive show! The voices of those fighting against the death penalty seem easily drowned out by the louder and more numerous voices of those in favor. Legislators supporting legal murder always seem incongruous to me because there they are in their expensive suits, and alligator shoes, all the while frothing at the mouth to make sure the State's right to legally murder an individual is secured. It is an astounding spectacle!
Texas is the country’s leading executioner. (I always knew we could lead something. We sure don’t lead in education, but I’ll save that topic for another article!)
Law making legislators who support the death penalty are very popular at home because their constituents too enjoy the finer points of State condoned murder. Happy constituents translate into votes for industrious legislators, and when legislators support the death penalty, they appear to be industrious for the people.
It's curious, but as we might have suspected, most on death row are plucked from the ranks of the poor. Yes, it's the ones among us, the ones mired in poverty who usually end up on death row, isn't it? We're talking about poor folk because only poor folk are murdered by the state!
You can verify that statement by verifying the details of those individuals who have been legally murdered by any State in the last 20+ years. Do a little research. What percentage are poor? With careful scrutiny one will discover the poor always suffer more than monied person who just might have committed the exact criminal offense.
It's curious, but as we might have suspected, most on death row are plucked from the ranks of the poor. Yes, it's the ones among us, the ones mired in poverty who usually end up on death row, isn't it? We're talking about poor folk because only poor folk are murdered by the state!
You can verify that statement by verifying the details of those individuals who have been legally murdered by any State in the last 20+ years. Do a little research. What percentage are poor? With careful scrutiny one will discover the poor always suffer more than monied person who just might have committed the exact criminal offense.
Wealthy men and women are never strapped to a table in order to more easily pour poison into their veins. Wealthy men are seldom arrested and found guilty of anything. Maybe wealthy men never steal. ..or kill. . .or rape. . . or deceive. Well, I guess we all know the truth about that one.
American justice is mostly applied to the poor because in this nation, poverty is considered the greatest sin of all. It is also the unforgivable sin. The offensive sin. Poverty is smelly and uneducated. Sometimes it hasn’t eaten in a couple of days, and it stands out by the side of the road asking for food or coins, and reminds us of who we might become. It’s an ugly nuisance and an unsightly reality who blocks the view of our freshly manicured lawns.
This country didn’t start out like that. In the beginning we scratched the surface of a credible beginning with words like' fairness' and 'justice'. 'Honesty' was thrown in alongside with 'equitable treatment for all'. It was a valiant start!! We also wrote down on paper what we believed and called it the U.S. Constitutions. Some of it included vocabulary such as: 'all of us (NOT just the rich) will be protected from illegal arrest, search, seizure and incarceration'. Right? Yes, it's in there, but how many of our poor know enough about the U.S. Constitution to stand up and say: Enough! I guess the better question is: how many of our poor have enough money to have a shiny, expensive lawyer to stand up and say. . .enough.
See what I mean?
Supporters of the death penalty say that legal, intentional murder of an individual is justice, but there is no justice in a legalized murder, so every time we hear that statement we’ll know it’s crap.
The prickly irony of all this arrogant and misplaced justice talk is this: The carte blanche approval of a State’s intentional killing of an individual has morphed into the most treacherous teaching moment of all because it teaches our kids that the grown ups in this state approve intentional murder as a resource when resolving conflict issues. Thank you, state government for that incredibly stupid, irresponsible and asinine lesson.
Sadly, once that fire has started, we are only left with the dismal aftermath of our children's ashes.
I think the interesting conversation surrounding the promotion of the death penalty is: with all the fatal and frequent shootings/murders in this country such as those that have occurred at schools, shopping malls, businesses, etc. how many of them were spurred forward or maybe just influenced by the ‘green light’ philosophy of ‘killing a person by lethal injection is really okay.’ In other words, does the shooter say, “if the state can do it, why can’t I?” Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m not.
I keep remembering Nelson Mandela’s teachings on forgiveness. To the women of South Africa who had been continuously and brutally raped, and for those whose families were murdered and/or maimed in front of their eyes, he told them they would never be able to heal until they forgave their attackers.
At first they couldn’t, but with his brave encouragement, they did. Once they said those beginning words of, “I forgive you,” the nation as a whole began to heal.
we need to listen to Mandela's teachings more closely. The time has come that we have to grow up enough to understand that the side show mentality of a State condoned intentional murder never, never works or prevents or teaches anything, save that intentional murder is a really good avenue to choose for conflict resolution.
More to follow!
Hope you have a safe and peaceful holiday season.
