<< So what follows is that to fight racism whe should rally behind that Texas
guy King who got death penalty for dragging a black man behind his truck.
What would you recommend instead - psychotherapy?
>>
The death penalty as applied in America is indeed racist in effect, and we should strive for its abolition. That does not mean that many of those condemned to death have not done horrific things, although I for one would rather that they got psychotheraphy in prison than a needle or a rope. But you are confusing matters. Anti-death penalty people like myself say, the penalty is racist and promotes racism. You say, but some white )and nonwhoite) people who get it deserve it. Bith of these claims can be true. Thsi is a case where I think consequences are more important than desert. The executionof a few poor white dirtbags palys the same role in legitimating a fundamentally racist system taht the execution of Lord Ferrer for killing his valet did in 18th century England. She, it says, the laws are applied fairly! But that is not true.
I am not sentimental about crime. I deal with criminals in court on a regukar basis, and while I think our punitive incarceration and death penalitiesa re barbaric, I am glad to see a lot of these characters off the streets. To cement my fall from left wing grace in the eyes of many here, I will confess that I am contemplating applying to be a federal prosecutor for a bit--I'd like to go after white collar criminals and corrupt officials. Being unsentimental, however, is not the same thing as being bloodthirsty.
Moreover, if you think desert matters, you shoulda gree that it far more important to not have the state execute an innocent person at the risk of letting some guilty persons avoid execution than to have the state execute innocent persons to make sure they get more of the guilty. But wrongful deatyh convictions are common. At a conference at Northwestern University addressing the 70-some rock-solid proven cases, 35 of the wrongfully condemned and exonerated showed up.
Here in Illinois, we have just passed a milestone, the state or federal courts having exonerated more death row prisoners (13) than Illinois has executed since executions became constitutional again in 1977 (12). Half the death sentences imposed in that period (150) have been reversed. These statistics suggest that we are probably executing a significant number of people who didn't do it. Does that disturb you?
--jks