by T. M. Beeker

Created on: January 16, 2009   Last Updated: December 28, 2010

The death of a murderer will ensure that he will never again take human life. There is an elegance to such logic. Sure, others can pontificate over the sanctity of human life, fear that an innocent may be executed, and tug on our heart strings with the chance that a killer may turn angel. All of this is so much rhetoric when you think about that person who takes human life.

The sanctity of human life is something that gets lots of press in the 'civilized' world. Sorry, its an illusion to think that everyone around the world values life like an opponent of the Death Penalty. And one should wonder at their values when they will fight passionately for the life of one who without regard for victim or consequence has taken life. Human life has value and one means to support such a notion is take it away from those who would take it from others. What do we value more than our own life? We protect more life when we remove those who take it without regard for life.

The execution of an innocent person is the greatest tragedy. It is an indictment of our system for dispensing justice. Opponents of the Death Penalty would eliminate the risk of such an instance by eliminating it as an option. Out goes baby and bath water to salve the conscious of people who do not understand that a society exists only if its members agree to follow rules or face consequences. Now a person who will not follow rules and does not fear imprisonment is rewarded with life for taking life. The solution is not to eliminate a means to remove a deadly menace from society. Why not fix the system instead of eliminating it?

I don't buy the argument that the Death Penalty is a deterrent. Not under a system where endless appeals mean a person spends decades on Death Row. Hey, if my puppy piddles on the floor, the longer I take to address and correct means the less effective I will be in preventing future piddles. In the past when justice was swift and punishment public perhaps it was a deterrent. Today that is not the case. The Death Penalty is a formalized version of shooting a rabid dog so he does not endanger us. The penalty is a means to make sure that one person never again takes a human life. This is my problem with opponents who say life imprisonment is a better choice. Why give a known killer the chance to kill again. Heck, if I am here for life what else are they going to punish me with?

Now the fantasy of criminal reform. That somehow if we pile on enough social scientist (Psychologist, Social

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