“It’s too expensive.”
It’s true, kind of. Lethal injection can be very expensive.
A couple years ago, Virginia’s
jumped to $16,500 per execution. So why is this a bad argument?
Two reasons. The first is that the alternative, life in prison,
is exponentially more expensive. The average annual cost to incarcerate a person in the United States is over
$31,000. Super-maximum-security prisons can run over $60,000 a year. Obviously,
we shouldn’t execute people to save costs, but these numbers completely destroy
the argument that we shouldn’t execute people because of the expense. If
executions were done after appeals fail instead of 20 or more years later, that
would be much less expensive.
The second reason is that there are many cheaper ways to execute
people. Gallows don’t cost nearly as much as drugs. Firing squads are pretty
cheap. There’s no reason to throw so much money at an execution. The problem
people have with these methods is the next dumb argument against the death
penalty.
“They might feel
pain.”
This is an argument against even lethal injection, which is designed
to avoid pain. But I don’t even think that it doesn’t matter if pain is felt—I think
it should be felt.
It might seem to be a barbaric statement, but what is the
point of capital punishment? I believe its primary purpose is to justly punish
a criminal. In most circumstances, the victim of the murder (or rape, as I
believe should also be a capital offense) felt pain, so why should the
perpetrator get a painless death? The just reward for a violent murder or rape
is a violent death.
A secondary benefit of the death penalty is deterrence.
While a consistent application of the death penalty (instead of a system where
less than two percent of murderers are executed) would be the greatest
deterrent, an added deterrent would be the assurance that the execution will
not be painless.
“It might kill innocent
people.”
This was a relevant argument in the past, and it still may
be for people that were sentenced to death years ago. The first criminal
conviction from DNA testing occurred in 1987. The Justice for All Act in 2004 strengthens
the right of convicted felons to obtain post-conviction testing. The regular
use of DNA testing today and the availability of post-conviction testing make
this no longer a problem.
“It’s not our place
to decide who lives or dies.”
With due process, yes, it is. This isn’t an arbitrary system
where we just grab people off the street and decide to execute them. There must
be an arraignment, a trial by jury if they choose, and a unanimous conviction.
There are many technological and forensic tools at the disposal of courts when
it comes to something so serious. Our laws lay out what actions are illegal and
what their punishment can be. Violent criminals know their actions are wrong
and they know the consequences, and it is a high burden of proof to convict
them. We feel it is our place to decide whether someone’s freedom is taken away
for the rest of his life. We clearly think we have a wide liberty to choose
someone’s fate. This argument is not made because its maker believes it wrong
to drastically affect someone’s life to punish him. It is made because someone
makes up her mind that capital punishment is wrong and then scrambles to find a
justification.
“God would forgive
them.”
This winner of the “Worst Public Policy in Recorded History”
award was famously posited by Mother Teresa, the internationally-repudiated
politician and sociologist.
The logical conclusion of this policy would be to pardon anyone
for any crime because, well, “God would forgive them.”
 |
| Good heavens, it's an epidemic. |
These are the people who think criminals will follow gun
laws.
It’s true. God will forgive murderers and rapists and any
other criminal because His forgiveness knows no limits. But that doesn’t mean
that we avoid the consequences of our actions. Allowing people to do so would
open up Pandora’s Box, as criminals would know they can get away with anything and
not be punished for their wrongdoing.
God did not have a problem with punishing people for their
crimes, nor did He have a problem with capital punishment. In fact, He
commanded it.
And surely your blood of your lives
will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand
of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God
made he man. –Genesis 9:5-6
This was before the Law, part of the Noahic Covenant.
You see, we don’t bend God to align with our beliefs. We
must align with His. We don’t get to decide that God doesn’t like capital punishment
because we don’t like capital punishment.
Nor should we shun justice because we
don’t like what it demands.
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