Is Use of the Death Penalty Ever Moral?
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/letters/death-penalty.html Version 0 of 1. To the Editor: Re “If Not the Parkland Shooter, Who Is the Death Penalty For?,” by Robert Blecker (Opinion guest essay, Oct. 29): I agree with much of what Mr. Blecker writes, and would summarize it by saying that some acts, like the Parkland, Uvalde or Sandy Hook shootings, are so heinous that people who commit them have forfeited their right to live. And the state, on behalf of society, has the right to take that life. And yet, I’m against the death penalty other than in a perfect legal system that allows for no unfairness in administering what is, essentially, the ultimate penalty, which can never be undone. Our legal system, though, permits such unfairness when, for example, it executes people who were accomplices while the actual killer gets life. But worst of all, innocent people are sometimes, if rarely, sentenced to death and executed — which is morally wrong and a stain on the soul of the justice system. Unless and until we can ensure that these serious miscarriages of justice are eliminated, we will sadly have to allow some killers who deserve death to spend the rest of their lives in prison. A just society demands no less. Joseph C. KaplanTeaneck, N.J. To the Editor: It is astonishing that Robert Blecker, a law professor who says he has spent “three decades documenting daily life on death rows and inside maximum security prisons,” could actually understand so little about prison life. Only a dedicated fantasist could believe that the men and women imprisoned there “are enjoying” their “new normal of daily life.” A study of the men on U.S. death rows found that in the period 1976 to 1999, the rate of suicide was about five times the rate of suicide in the U.S. as a whole. And state prisoners were more likely to die of cancer and liver disease “and more than twice as likely to die from homicide” than the outside U.S. population, according to a Department of Justice report. Does Mr. Blecker suggest that conditions for the condemned have improved? His use of the term “worst of the worst,” a concept invented to masquerade the reality of the abused, neglected and mentally ill women and men who populate our death rows, has to be left behind if there is ever going to be a meaningful discussion of the death penalty. Thoughtful people understand that it was not “free will” that produced Nikolas Cruz’s monstrous crimes but a severely damaged mind. To argue that retribution will “restore a moral balance” is ethical bankruptcy. State killing is immoral. Two immoral acts do not create a moral balance. Mike FarrellSacramentoThe writer is president of Death Penalty Focus. To the Editor: Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, deserved the death penalty and got it. Nancy Keenan-RichPoughkeepsie, N.Y. To the Editor: In endorsing capital punishment for the “worst of the worst criminals,” and in suggesting that “retributive justice” is a means of acknowledging the full humanity and free will of a person convicted of aggravated murder, Robert Blecker fails to understand that an essential part of Nikolas Cruz’s humanity was destroyed before he was born. Mr. Cruz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which has profound consequences on brain development, impulse control, cognitive capacity and behavior. Mr. Blecker’s method requires him to put himself in the shoes of the victims, but he fails in his effort at creating a framework for true sentencing justice because he appears incapable of putting himself in the shoes of the brain-damaged Mr. Cruz, whose full humanity was broken in a way that made his will much less than free. Mercy is part of the human condition and is the ultimate acknowledgment of human dignity. Michael IariaBainbridge Island, Wash.The writer is a criminal defense attorney who handles capital cases and has represented clients with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. To the Editor: The headline asks, “If Not the Parkland Shooter, Who Is the Death Penalty For?” How about … nobody? The death penalty has been convincingly shown to not be a deterrent to future criminals, nor does it do anything to bring a killer’s victims back to life. All it does is exact revenge while sometimes resulting in the execution of innocent people. It’s understandable that a victim’s family might be so overcome by emotion that it favors the death penalty, but the banning of this barbaric practice is long overdue. Jeff BurgerRidgewood, N.J. To the Editor: Prof. Robert Blecker seems as incapable of feeling pity for Nikolas Cruz as Mr. Cruz was of feeling pity for his victims. Just as I cannot imagine the terror and pain these victims felt in the long moments before their deaths, I cannot imagine the horror of Mr. Cruz’s life. In no way does that horrific childhood justify his crimes. But it does make me feel sorrow for him along with his victims. It seems his life’s potential ended long before he picked up that gun and walked into a school to commit mass murder. That’s at least partly the fault of the culture and country we all as Americans share. Cheryl AlisonWorcester, Mass. To the Editor: I understand Robert Blecker’s point of view, and it’s a compelling one. Emotionally, it feels right to exact this punishment, especially on a person so coldhearted, calculated and genuinely remorseless. This does not mean it is right. The prison system is corrupt, and Nikolas Cruz may very well live out his life in relative comfort (though we cannot know this). My reaction to this is to argue for a better, more just prison system. Mr. Blecker states at the end of his article that our collective failure to impose the death penalty equates to a failure to denounce the horrific crimes this man committed. But I don’t think it’s a reflection of him or our opinions of him at all, and I think saying it gives the shooter too much power. Our refusal to implement the death penalty reflects who we are, and what we value. Because even in the face of a man whose main goal was to make us afraid, we have chosen never to stoop to his level. Amaya Gonzalez-MollmannBrooklyn |