Yesterday, Streak's other friend and I had a bizarre driveway moment. She drove into the driveway to find me sitting in the truck with the radio on. Both of us sat in our cars and listened to NPR's interview with Sister Helen Prejean about her new book. She was mesmerizing, and her story is one of horror. Americans pat themselves on the back about their virture and morality, yet allow a flawed system that kills people to continue.
What do we know about our Capital Punishment?
1) The states that execute the most are from the old Confederacy.
2) Those same states had the most illegal lynchings as well.
3) Our system is biased on both class and race. If you are poor and can't afford good counsel, you have a much higher possibility of being executed (especially in Texas).
3b. If the victim is white, much more likely to result in execution. Victims of color don't count as much.
4. Since the advent of DNA testing, the Innocence Project has exonerated 154 people who were on death row. Remember, DNA evidence only comes into play when there is, well, DNA to be tested. That doesn't mean those are the only wrongful convictions. Especially with what we know about eye witness testimony, it is inconcievable that we can claim that we only execute the guilty.
Most Americans know these problems but continue to allow this to continue. Why? I am tired and jaded, but allowing a system that is racist and classist and likely executing innocent people shouldn't be allowed to continue.
2 comments:
Brad,
I heard that interview.
It's amazes me how relentlessly some people try to justify executing the mentally retarded.
Yeah, I agree. Something I observed when Texas executed Karla Tucker was how disconnected people are from the system. They see these death row inmates as non-humans, I fear, and so really don't care about the process that kills them. Tucker, however, with her born-again Christianity and white skin got to people. For the first time, people saw one of their relatives or friends there. Not that it mattered.
The other thing I am amazed by is the way that most people think that they could never be accused of a crime since they aren't criminals. I remember a child abduction case in Colorado when I was in college. Salaam and others will remember my ugly orange Datsun car. When the notice of the suspect went out, it included a description for that car. I was in no danger, but it struck me how being in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong car could end up with a bad situation. Add the death penalty to it and, yikes.
One other point about the death penalty, is the weird disconnect between the public's distrust of the jury system (the OJ case) while essentially believing that capital cases are all correct. The same jury system that aquitted OJ convicts other poor and minority people every day. Why are those somehow pure?
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