The Greens oppose the CPRS not because it is too weak, but because it will point Australia in the wrong direction with little prospect of turning it around in the timeframe within which emissions must peak, says Senator Christine Milne.
The death penalty: clumsy, costly and morally dubious
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For Romel Broom, death will coming knocking a second time. He is being given a week to recover from the 18 needle injuries he sustained earlier this week, and is due to be executed again on Tuesday. Unbelievably, he is not the first to experience this. In 1946, a similar bungle occurred when the teenager, Willie Francis, survived the electric chair. During the jolt, he screamed “I’m not dying!” Francis’ attorneys subsequently appealed that a “second” execution would violate the double jeopardy rule (as well as the Eighth Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment). The appeal failed and Francis did not survive the second attempt at taking his life. Stories of grotesque bungles abound in death penalty literature. In May 1992, it took Texan officials 47 minutes to execute Billy Wayne White, a former drug user. Randy Wool, also a drug addict, was forced to assist technicians to find a suitable vein. Violent convulsions were not uncommon, and hence a paralytic drug is now introduced into the blood stream before the lethal drug is administered. The paralytic, amongst other things, prevents the diaphragm from working, effectively suffocating the inmate. Perhaps worst of all is the story of Raymond Landry. Two minutes into the execution, the syringe flew out of Raymond’s vein, spraying deadly chemical across the room towards witnesses. The syringe had to be reinserted as Raymond was half dead. It took 24 minutes for him to die. Not only is the death penalty clumsy, it is costly. It is estimated that it is at least ten times more expensive for a District Attorney to seek the death penalty, as opposed to second degree murder. Then there are appeals that run for decades and cost millions. As a general political trend, it is also proving harder for DAs to obtain the death penalty than it once was. It may only be a matter of time before a majority number of states, like New Jersey, outlaw capital punishment. This will be significant for when a case comes before the US Supreme Court. Under the Eighth Amendment, cruel or unusual punishment is considered unconstitutional. One of the ways the Supreme Court defines “cruel and unusual” is by considering the public opinion on the issue by considering the number of states which have retained capital punishment. Once there is a majority of state against the death penalty, the US Supreme Court may well consider it unconstitutional. This would be a huge step forward for human rights. It unfortunately only represents the tip of the iceberg. Prison may be an awful place to die, but equally, it is an awful place to live. There are 82 prisoners held by the State of Louisiana currently sentenced to death. There are 4280 people in the State who are sentenced to life without parole. Paradoxically, there is an incentive for defendants to avoid pleading to life, as a capital offender has a statutory right to legal representation for appeals if he or she is indigent (unlike those sentenced to life without parole). The untold story, as Jeff Sparrow points out, is that prisons are fast becoming what the workhouse was to 19th century England: a waste disposal unit for “the poor, the crazy or the simply forgotten”. In a society that is untroubled by the horror of Romel Broom’s botched execution, it is no surprise that there is indifference to the sense of hopelessness for prisoners facing life without parole. In some prisoners’ final statements, they talk about the relief of death, that it would have been harder to serve life. Louisiana has some of the most violent prisons in the country (in particular, the notorious is Angola). As document by Dave Eggers in his recent book Zeitoun, these prisoners suffered appalling treatment in the wake of hurricane Katrina. They were denied food, water and shelter for days, whilst being conscripted to build holding pens to hold people arrested by the National Guard in the days after the storm. The similarities with Guantanamo were haunting. How a society treats people who seek its mercy reflects the strength of its justice system and its moral fibre. The social problems reflected through the prism of criminality are too sophisticated to be addressed through the blunt instrument of prison sentences. There is no denying that many of these people are no angels and in some cases, they are not able to live and function in society. But condemning people to die is barbaric. Equally, condemning them to a life without dignity, respect or hope is nearly as bad. Lizzie O’Shea is a lawyer interning at the Capital Post Conviction Project of Louisiana in New Orleans, which represents indigent prisoners on death row in their State and Federal Appeals. |
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20 Comments
Are the other alternatives? I’d be interested to hear.
There was a lawyer from the US visiting Australia a month or so ago. He’s a Professor who teachers at a major University in the US. He takes up cases of people on death row who have always asserted their innocence. This started with his students becoming involved in a case - they do the ‘leg work’ which includes interviewing relevant people, visiting the crime scene and having many discussions with the convicted person - all too frequently poor and black! His relevations were horrifying. They included the fact, that all too frequently the neighbourhood cop has little or no experience in homicides; doesn’t ensure that the crime scene is forensically examined and protected; takes the word of so-called witnesses who, in too many cases aren’t definite, or even not been able to pick the person in a line-up; and all too frequently, racism is a factor - every black person looks the same scenario! If the convicted person admitted guilt somewhere along the line, then that’s it - it often involves innocent people being executed.
What I found really chilling, was the Judges often comment, that to reopen the case or admit that the convicted person is innocent, would result in the people losing faith in the justice system. Killing innocent people is better than the justice system being embarrassed? As the Professor said, they don’t wonder what impression the people have when they know that innocent people have been executed. I recall reading, that while George W Bush was Governor of Texas, he signed 137 death warrants. At the time of the article, there were at least 9 of those subsequently found to be innocent - there’s probably more now. Too late after the person is dead! Oooopppps! Sorry! doesn’t really suffice does it?
I find the death penalty abhorrent - it’s state sponsored murder in my view. It’s saying, ‘we don’t know what to do with you, so we’ll kill you’? It’s been proven, that it doesn’t act as a deterrent, and it’s all about revenge, not justice. White rich criminals, including murderers, frequently/always get off. You get the justice you can afford to pay for in too many cases!
PS. This man was a guest on Richard Fydlers, Conversation Hour on ABC Radio. The interviews can be accessed on the internet! Very interesting person with an amazing story to tell. How he selects his clients; how his students go about the research etc.
Our attitude towards the death penalty is sometimes intriguing, to say the least. We do not mind capital punishment for i.e Bali bombers, ‘islamic terrorists’, or Iraqi scientists or many, many civilians being killed without a trial because ‘they might be associated with terrorists’.
I would probably support capital punishment providing we, in the West at least, had independent juidiciary and squeaky clean lawmakers..
It is sad that we still debate such issues. Personally, I believe killing is wrong, and therefore the death penalty should not exist.
@ Rena
“We do not mind capital punishment for i.e Bali bombers…”
Really? You’ve heard people take this position? For me, they need to sit in jail for the rest of their lives after facing trial.
RENA - I didn’t agree with the so-called Bali bombers being executed. The main reason, I’m against capital punishment, full stop. I’m still not convinced that the Indonesian Military weren’t involved; let’s face it, the ‘accused’ weren’t really very bright were they? The guilty people should’ve been in jail for ever, like GEF05 said.
I also abhor state sponsored terrorism, that is, the illegal invasion of countries and murdering innocent people, who were no threat to the US or Australia - over 1.3 million in Iraq, and maybe the same in Afghanistan. Nobody cares enough to even keep count of the dead! We ‘regret’ the deaths of Australian service people; we express moral outrage at over 80 Australians killed in Bali, but we remain silent over the x number of ‘Balis’ every day in Afghanistan & Iraq. We’ve destroyed those countries, and enabled horrific injuries and diseases to take over. There are too many innocent men and boys still in Iraqi jails, just because they oppose being occupied and seeing their family members killed and maimed! I despair!
Leaving aside the debate about the merits of the death penalty itself, I have often wondered why it is that there are so many horror stories of bungled lethal injections. Death by lethal injection is just a bad anaesthetic. It takes years of training to avoid killing people by lethal injection, so how can people fail to be able to acheive it reliably when its their job to do so. Perhaps they need more technically capabable people and a better mix of drugs. Up the dose, add some barbiturates. Its not like side effects are an issue.
@Altakoi. The “technically capabable people” are anesthetists and they rightly refuse to assist.
Whatever happened to the firing squad? .. never heard of that failing ..and it sends a loud message to the crims . Have the US forgotten how to use guns? ..I don’t think so . And to all the bleeding hearts out there please don’t lecture me on killing or the ‘rights of killers’ or their broken childhoods .. I don’t want to hear . A collective has and always will defend itself against threats using lethal force or it will perish like any other failed animal species . Thats how nature works and thats why we have a military to protect the us sheep from the wolves . Fact is there are wolves out there who are a real threat and they must be dealt with or else the lawless will control the lawful . For example witness Mexico today- its out of control to drug lords -in fact its a civil war as big as Iraq!! . In this country organised crime gangs are a real threat and must be destroyed . These wolves- like bikie gangs -will destroy us if we let them . And why are bikie gangs feared and effective ? Because like wolves they hunt in packs . They ‘ve learned that an organised collective is far stronger than a group of individualist rabble . Wolves can easily prey on SHEEP if there are no shepherds.
From some ’ gay liberal pointy headed imbecile’ comes the nonsense ’ better 99 guilty go free than one innocent die ’ ..WHAT UTTER RUBBISH .. the innocent die every day — ask an Afghan — ..usually by US bombs .. So ok well lets open the jail doors and let all the crims go because we all know that there might ONE innocent in jail ,and there are .. ….You see how ridiculous the gay liberals are ? With them its all about ME and MY RIGHTS and ‘what if it was you? ’ blah blah and the universe revolves around ME ME and ME etc etc. You see how corrupt selfish and perverse gay liberals are ? They are so corrupted with their own miserable wretched existence..they bring NOTHING for the rest of us . They just don’t get it — -only the collective survives . . Its not ALL ABOUT ME ..it never was . These perserve individualist ideals can often be traced to the USA with its protestant individual salvation and the myth of the rugged individual translated into individual consumer capitalism which conveniently maximises profits. The collective rights are not mentioned. Well that’s them NOT US . Frankly the US is a country ’ off the rails’ and we are fools to follow that wayward sick country which can’t even organise an execution .
A simple way to deal with criminals is to strip them of citizenship which ,afterall, most of us took for granted and got for nothing unlike my father who fought for it in New Guinea .. But that was in the days when it was God King and Country …. not ME ME and oh ME but not you . Western society today is a decaying worm eaten corpse riddled by CORRUPT individualist gay liberals who have their voices heard in a press controlled by THEM for THEM.
Citizenship should work like this — - No citizenship due to a serious crime ? then leave the country within 30 days or be indefinitely detained ! Alternatively you can work to get you citizenship back by works and deeds and commit no crime for 10 years . Afterall thats how Australia GOT STARTED FOLKS ..think about it..read your history .. Citizenship should be kept bright and shiny for all to see.
We have become too obsessed with the rights of the individual and even the rights of criminals- witness Dennis Fergusen for example with ‘his rights’ being quoted at us by gay liberal noisebags - HE HAS NO RIGHTS .. HE FORFEITED HIS RIGHTS as a citizen DECADES AGO — that wolf belongs on a rope. Corrupting gay liberal speak- easys do not understand the rights of the collective and the concept of citizenship and thats why western society is slowly and surely failing as we can all see every day . But don’t worry all you gay liberals , Islam is very patient and will fill the void you have created with your corrupt ‘fashionable views’ . I can assure you Islam can deal with criminals.
Oh and bring back the death penalty and get rid of the wolves before they eat us .
It is hypocritical to have a law against killing and then to kill someone whoever they are and whatever they have done.
‘Do as I say not as I do’ …
In addition the number of people who are wrongfully convicted is appalling. Thankfully we no longer have capital punishment. In our State we have had John Button and Andrew Mallard convicted and having to spend respectively 12 years and 5 years in jail for murders they did not commit. Button is currently helping to fight for Greer’s case (another convicted murderer) to be reassessed and with good grounds.
Bad enough they have lost years of their lives, been hated on and meanwhile of course the real killers have been allowed to roam the land unrestrained - at least they have not been put to death as they would have been had we still had the death penalty.
This discussion really forms part of a defining debate in our understanding of life and death and our inherent fear and ignorance of the actual process of dying and death.
I find it totally incongruous that this form of state sponsored euthanasia can be held up as the “ultimate penalty” in justice systems around the world where those same societies prohibit sane and considered decisions of the terminally ill to choose the timing of their own death.
Death has no relationship to penalty or justice. Death brought on in this way is simply wrong and barbaric.
If citizens dont have the right to take anothers life, then neither should the state. The harshest punishment the state should be able to give is to take away the ability to participate in society. That is life in prison with no possibility for release. Every effort should be made to treat that prisoner with humanity, to remind the criminal how he should behave in society, and serve not to justify any percieved wrongs. And the convicted criminal can have access to voluntary euthanasia, so he or she can usher themselves off this mortal coil when they so choose.
Recently, I watched a documentary on Norway. There is no sentence longer than 20 years, regardless of the crime. The jail is on an island, and the ‘inmates’ aren’t locked up as such, they live in homes/barracks that have all modern conveniences, about 5-6 to a dwelling. They go out to work each day and prepare their own meals etc. The ‘warders’ walk around without any weapons, and the atmosphere is jovial and peaceful. Norway has the lowest murder rate in the world. The police don’t carry weapons either. In recent years, the US wanted Norway to return an american citizen to face serious charges, and the high court in Norway refused, as they believed the prisons in the US were inhumane and should be against International Law. Food for thought?
In Australia, there’s been the practice for too many years, of politicians of both major parties trying to outdo each other over ‘law and order’ issues leading up to state elections. It has nothing to do with prevention or rehabilitation. We now have a situation in NSW, where juveniles are being locked up in mainstream prisons while awaiting their case being heard - all this does is act as an educational tool for being ‘smarter’ criminals? Sometimes the young person is found to be innocent, and/or doesn’t face a prison sentence, but the damage could already be done. We also lock up too many people with drug or alcohol problems, and sadly, too many with a mental illness. The State health systems are in such a mess, that the so-called leaders are obviously quite content for the prison system to do the job???In the NT, an overwhelming number of people in prison are aboriginal; and usually for ‘crimes’ that non-aboriginal people would possibly/probably not get a custodial sentence. Life in prison without any hope of release should only be kept for the most heinous crimes - like Ivan Milat and the killers of Anita Cobby for example. If you remove the hope that people can be rehabilitated somewhere down the track, it says more about the rest of us, and our attitudes to any ability for change. There are plenty of examples of people, with the right programs and time, who’ve been able to leave jail and become a ‘good’ citizen.
In the US, the overwhelming number of people in jail are black and poor! I recall the hypocrisy of George W and the poor woman who was brain dead, but he fought to prevent her life support being switched off - this from a person who signed 137 death warrants, and is responsible for 1.3 million dead Iraqis, and who knows how many Afghanis. The hypocrisy really gets to me. The woman’s family won the court appeal, and the poor woman did die soon after. To some, there are people and then there’s the others - the ‘unpeople’?
I believe the death penalty is state sponsored murder, as I believe the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are state sponsored terrorism on a grand scale! The so-called ‘leaders’ should have to lead the way in any wars they engage in, start or promote - that might change things considerably? Their families should be made to follow them. It’s too easy for some people to send other peoples’ kids to kill and be killed! It’s immoral and unjust!
I have to admit, while I am opposed to the death penalty and always will be, I will find it hard to shed a tear for Romel Broom after reading what he did.
But if it were up to me, I would ban capital punishment. It is an outdated form of punishment belonging to a less civilised society (‘legalised murder’ is a good name for it). Society needs to move forward.
Finally, I could not connect the dots in Liz45’s arguement about Norway having those super friendly jails and crime being down. I believe there would have to be other contributing factors for the low crime rates - any ideas anyone?
I oppose death as a penalty. I believe that most punitive responses to crime are ineffective at best and counter productive at worst.
But rabid dogs are shot. There are some crimes where the guilt is beyond doubt and the crime so horrific that the persons responsible can have no place in human society. I’m talking about cases like Anita Cobby.
It’s not that the persons deserve to die, but they could never be rehabilitated and would remain a constant threat, either to other prisoners or warders or the community at large.
“…I find the death penalty abhorrent - it’s state sponsored murder in my view…”
I find it hilarious that the same people who find capital punishment “abhorrent” fully support partial birth abortions up to 23 weeks and enthusiastically support euthanasia.
The hypocrisy is stunning.
If abortion was illegal America’s population would be closer to 400 million.
That’s a lot of state-sponsored dead kids.
”..I find it hilarious that the same people who find capital punishment “abhorrent” fully support partial birth abortions up to 23 weeks and enthusiastically support euthanasia…”
I find nothing hilarious with the hypocrisy of so many “right to lifers” who also clamor for death as a form of penalty.
The real question that needs to be thoroughly tested is; does bringing forward a persons death deliver true justice, is the act of terminating a persons life relevant as a penalty in civilised communities?
I suggest not.
Euthanasia is a different topic Most Peculiar Mama, and needs to be paid more than just lip service on a blog site. Just about anyone who has watched somebody die slowly and horribly, has a particular view on this topic. I would hate to see anyone belittled for either supporting or not supporting it. But I would like to see it opened up for a national debate.
The death penalty is brutal ritualized murder…………it’s hypocritical to force the the terminally ill to suffer indefinite terrible pain because of the criminalization of euthanasia.
Strangely most of those US citizens who support the death penalty see euthanasia to stop suffering as murder.
I would just like to congratulate LIZ45 on her post which is both accurate and shows that CIVILIZED societies can and do approach the vexed issue of punishing and rehabilitating criminals whilst actually working on reducing recidivist behavior.
The attitude to sex offenders is also based on releasing an offender in a controlled manner and with continuing behavior modification techniques which actually work.
To be noted is that Norway takes many offences such as drink driving seriously as is shown by this incidence as reported by -
http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2009/05/my-kind-of-drunk-driving-sentence-in-norway.html
“A Norwegian businessman was ordered on Tuesday to pay a fine of 700,000 kroner for driving 400m while drunk, a court said. Due to the man’s wealth, the court in the southern Norwegian county of Aust-Agder handed down a heavier-than-usual sentence, which would normally be equivalent to a month-and-a-half’s gross salary for the accused.
“The principle of proportionality implies that we should take into account the entire wealth of the person in cases where the defendant is more well off than most other people,” a copy of the verdict obtained by AFP read.
The 49-year-old man is the heir of a rich shipping family…. The man was also ordered to take part in an alcohol rehabilitation programme — failing which he will have to serve 18 days in jail — and he had his driver’s licence suspended for two years and three months.
The man was arrested in October 2008 after he was found to have more than nine times the permitted blood-alcohol level an hour after he was stopped by police. The man told the court that he had only driven 300 to 400m, and that, aware of his condition, he was going to meet friends to ask them to take him home.”
The United States should be seen as an example of how not to approach Law Enforcement, Punishment and most importantly the levels of society and how some levels are protected from their “just deserts” and other levels receive no justice at all.
Would it not be wonderful if Australia followed the good examples of the enlightened countries rather than fall in behind a nation some call, with some perceived accuracy, “The Great Satan”