Thursday, April 07, 2005
Death Penalty
Ramesh Ponnuru over on NRO discusses Rick Santorum's conversion on the death penalty issue. Santorum is rethinking his support for it, though it is not for the same reason that I converted a few years ago. The Senator is concerned that DNA evidence suggests a number of innocccent people were assigned to death row and subsequently released. Ramesh writes, "This is a terrible reason to be against the death penalty." I concur.
Ponnuru links to a number of sources indicating that the numbers may be inflated, and that some if not most of those people released were vindicated not by DNA evidence, but were released on some technicality.
As for me, this issue is essentially irrelevant. I oppose the death penalty based upon my moral conviction that the state ought not be in the business of putting people to death. It's that simple, thus the extra arguments put forward (executing the innocent, racism, the two-tiered justice system, etc.) really don't matter to me.
I have gotten some flak for my relative lack of interest in these side issues from other death penalty opponents. They ask me how I can be so unconcerned about the inbalances and other social issues involved, and my response is that I am against the death penalty anyway, so what difference should these other issues make to my point of view? In fact, it seems my stance is more principled. For example, if one is opposed to the death penalty because of supposed racial inequities, would that opposition disappear if those inequities were somehow eradicated?
I am throwing this open in the hopes of getting some comments. What do you guys think?
Ponnuru links to a number of sources indicating that the numbers may be inflated, and that some if not most of those people released were vindicated not by DNA evidence, but were released on some technicality.
As for me, this issue is essentially irrelevant. I oppose the death penalty based upon my moral conviction that the state ought not be in the business of putting people to death. It's that simple, thus the extra arguments put forward (executing the innocent, racism, the two-tiered justice system, etc.) really don't matter to me.
I have gotten some flak for my relative lack of interest in these side issues from other death penalty opponents. They ask me how I can be so unconcerned about the inbalances and other social issues involved, and my response is that I am against the death penalty anyway, so what difference should these other issues make to my point of view? In fact, it seems my stance is more principled. For example, if one is opposed to the death penalty because of supposed racial inequities, would that opposition disappear if those inequities were somehow eradicated?
I am throwing this open in the hopes of getting some comments. What do you guys think?
# posted by Paul Zummo : 10:11 AM
