Saying No to the Death Penalty

SAYING NO TO THE DEATH PENALTY (May 20, 2001)

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Romans 12:19

This week two men who had been convicted in a 1987 murder in Brooklyn were finally freed by the very judge who had sentenced them because their conviction had hinged on the false testimony of one witness. The witness admitted she had lied to collect $1,000 reward. As a result these two men have lost 14 years of their lives behind bars. The judge, in his own defense, said the witness had been totally credible at the time and he was convinced of their guilt. They were freed because of the determined efforts of one private investigator. A man already in prison has bragged that he had done the crime.

What if you had lost 14 years of your life for something you did not do? What if you had faced the possibility of death for something you did not do?

The week before that a man was released from death row when it was found that his conviction had been based on the false laboratory work of a chemist, whose testimony had been responsible for the conviction of a number of other cases over a decade.

Practically every week we hear of new cases of prisoners, often on death row, freed after being wrongly convicted for one reason or another: false testimony, incompetent lawyers, faked evidence, even police manipulation. New technology, such as DNA, has played an enormous role in these cases, and so has old-fashioned persistence, the selfless dedication of investigators who come to believe in someone, or law students, such as those in Chicago who are part of a program at Northwestern University which resulted eventually in overturning so many cases that the Illinois governor last year put a moratorium on capital punishment in his state because there were so many problems in the system. It is estimated that 8 percent of the 4000 persons currently on death row are innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted.

Two years ago an Illinois man named Anthony Porter came within two days of his execution for a double murder. He spent 16 years on Death Row. Northwestern University students found irrefutable proof of his innocence. The Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit court said, “I am personally profoundly grateful that we were spared the unthinkable conclusion to this case."

I believe the overwhelming number of police are honest, but anyone who thinks there is not corruption and incompetence in our law enforcement and legal systems is living in never-never land. Just as there is corruption among clergy, I’m sorry to say, there is also corruption among police and the legal system.

This week there is a chilling story in the New Yorker magazine about police in Los Angeles who routinely carry with them an extra gun to plant on someone they might shoot by accident. Two officers are on a stake-out when they are surprised by a 19-year old gang member. They shoot him, then discover he has no weapon. So they place a “drop”, a gun they carry with him for such an event, which they place in his hand and near the young man’s body. The young man survived and is convicted of attempting to kill two police officers, based on the sworn testimony of the police. The judge gives him a stern rebuke for lacking remorse and a 23-year sentence.

It is outrageous that we are willing to tolerate the ultimate and only irreversible penalty in such an imperfect system.

In Europe people can’t understand why the U.S. has the death penalty. No country in the European Union has the death penalty. They find it amazing that our country which claims to be a leader in protecting human rights executed more than 75 people last year. Henri Leclerc, president of the human rights league in Paris, says, “For us, what the Americans are doing is completely incomprehensible, that such an advanced country can be involved in such an act of barbarism.”

No one is in favor of “coddling” criminals. Life sentences are totally appropriate – and a lot cheaper, by the way, which is hard for many people to understand but is absolutely true. What is being said is that the penalty has absolutely no deterrent value, is racially administered, is replete with mistakes, and puts all of us in the hands of “playing God” and quite possibly taking an innocent life.

It horrifies to me to think I could be responsible , even if indirectly, for the death of one innocent human being.

Although a majority of Americans still favor capital punishment, the numbers are dropping. The Pew Research Center’s polls show support slipping from 80 percent in 1994 to 66 percent this year. The Gallup polls show similar decline in support. The new technologies are raising doubts in the minds of many people about the fairness of the process, according to Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center. The enormous popularity of the Academy award movie “The Green Mile” a year ago may have changed some minds about the rightness of the penalty. Many people left the cinema very moved and aware of the obvious point.

Right now, Timothy McVeigh is, as Mr. Kohut says, “the poster boy” for capital punishment. But in a weird way, Mr. McVeigh may now help the anti-capital punishment movement because of the horrific mistakes of the FBI in not releasing important documents to the defense. Jonathan Alter wrote in Newsweek, “The new questions about the death penalty raised by the McVeigh case are not really about McVeigh at all. They are about the hundreds of other death-row inmates that you’ve never heard of….If the FBI couldn’t get its act together on this one, with the whole world watching, imagine what happens in sleepy jurisdictions where no reporters are interested.”

It has been shown that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner in our society. In 1990 the U.S. General Accounting Office reported a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty. Even though people of color are the victims of more than half of all homicides, 82 percent of those put to death have been convicted of killing a white person. The race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder in 82 percent of the cases. Of 35,000 legal executions recorded in the history of the U.S., only 35 have been for a white killing a black, and only 5 of those since capital punishment recommenced in 1975.

But even if law enforcement had absolutely no corruption, if the legal system was perfect, if there was absolutely no racism, and if we could guarantee that every conviction was 100% just, would the death penalty still be justified?

I say no.

Every major church and Jewish organization is on record in absolute opposition to the death penalty. Recently the Pope appealed to President Bush not to allow the execution of Mr. McVeigh and he appealed directly to the governor of Missouri to stop an execution when he visited that state. Protestant denominations have overwhelmingly joined him in these and other appeals. Human life, even the life of the most incorrigible of killers and the evilest of persons, is inherently precious. We do not teach respect for it by taking it, even when the prisoner is guilty.

The Churches recognize that for many people the death penalty can put closure on a horrible crime for the survivors and relatives of victims and that the emotional need for revenge is a powerful factor. But revenge, scripture consistently teaches, should be left to God. There is a spiritual cost in a society which practices capital punishment – a cost in the diminishment of respect for all of life, a cost in divisiveness as some groups correctly perceive how the punishment is unfairly practiced, a cost in general loss of respect for the value and dignity of human life. There are other ways to put closure on tragedy.

A number of people who are relatives of victims killed in Oklahoma City have spoken out against the death penalty. One reason given is the execution of Mr. McVeigh will end any chance to learn more. Another is they believe he should be given more time to see the horror of what he did. And others simply oppose capital punishment, even for such evil.

When it comes down to it, the only argument for the death penalty is revenge – an eye for an eye. Jesus Christspecifically repudiated the “eye for an eye” theology. Our Lord was himself the innocent victim of capital punishment. It is very hard to teach our children that revenge is wrong if the state itself practices it.

It has been shown that the death penalty has no deterrent effect. States such as Florida and Texas, which lead the nation in executions, show high, rather than diminished, incidents of violent crime. Neighboring states, such as Michigan and Indiana, one with the death penalty and one without it, show no difference in violent crime. There is much evidence that violent crime is often accompanied by alcohol, drugs, or passion, and this argues against any reflection which is presumed to deter crime.

Last year’s General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church called for a moratorium on capital punishment. The resolution was one of a long series dating back to 1959 opposed to the death penalty. The statement pointed out that almost 90% of persons facing capital charges cannot afford their own attorney. It also said, the use of the death penalty in a representative democracy places citizens in the role of executioner: “Christians cannot isolate themselves from corporate responsibility, including the responsibility for every execution, as well as for every victim.”

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." Romans 12:19