Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Monday, 30 April 2012 19:27
Torie Rivera
GENTLY TO YOUR DEATH
By Torie Rivera
Illustration by Jweeba Legohaus  Currently, there are 3,199 people that are death row inmates in the U.S., and 723 are in the California prison system. The last census estimates that there are 311,591,917 people in the U.S., and 37,691,912 of those reside in California. This November there will be a measure, SAFE California Act, on the general election ballot to abolish the death penalty in the state of California. In turn, those on death row in California would have their sentences replaced with life without possibility of parole. The death penalty does not do anything but perpetuate a cycle of practicing Babylonian law (i.e. The Code of Hammurabi, lex talionis, more specifically ‘eye for an eye…’). This is just not right.
In a nation made up of roughly 60% to 76% Christians, it is a little paradoxical how much death occurs at the hands of our law, whether domestic or foreign. In particular the practice of taking one’s life because of the fact that a life has been taken is the most unnerving contradiction. Where is the forgiveness? Where is the rehabilitation? Are these not tenants of our society and judicial system? There is so much debate over the cost of the death penalty. It seems like the fact that life is at stake is not of importance at all. All that is discussed is the cost and benefit. Human life, or any form of life, should not be reduced to an Excel spreadsheet. I have never had a family member murdered in my life. I have lost most of those closest to me: my mother, stepfather, grandmother, and grandfather. The feeling of the death of your closest family, in particular your mother, is a horrifying experience. The pain never ceases. Years down the line you will forget. There will be something you want to tell them, and then it happens…you remember they are dead. You see their face on others now and then on others. I would not wish this on anyone. But, if I had my family taken away from me by another human I do not see how killing that person would do any good for me, or society. Death is not the answer to death. Another aspect of the death penalty that is alarming is the statistics that involve race. A study in California found that those who killed whites were over three times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed blacks and over four times more likely than those who killed Latinos (Pierce & Radelet, Santa Clara Law Review, 2005). Remember these statistics are about life and death. In Louisiana, the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black. (Pierce & Radelet, Louisiana Law Review, 2011). Race should not come into play when deciding guilt or penalty, or any aspect of life. If you vote, which you should, please educate yourself before you mark your ballot. You can check out many sources to gain a better understanding of the issue. Here are some sources I have found on the issue: www.deathpenaltyinfo.org, www.deathpenalty.procon.org, www.safecalifornia.org. |
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