by L. Merlino

Created on: November 01, 2007

Anything that cheapens human life is unjust. The death penalty does exactly that: it sets a standard that devalues human life.

Killing a killer cannot be justified: it does not redeem anyone (quite the contrary), nor does it resurrect any victim. What it does is perpetrate harm. Any system of governance that engages the death penalty sets an example that human life is dispensable given certain criteria. If that is so, than who's to set the criteria? Once a precedent for enacting the death penalty has been established, who's to stop more and more precedents from being established? Today it may be a life for a life; tomorrow it may be a life for outstanding tax evasion. Next it may degrade from that, to a life for a dog violation.

The death penalty could be considered an easy (if not cowardly) way out from many social dilemmas, from overpopulation to failing to meet the standards of the "beautiful" people or a politically correct "majority". Woe to the obese, the handicapped, or those presumed to be "genetically inferior". We all know what has happened to those who've criticized the government or "status quo" in totalitarian states.

Some may argue that it is EXPENSIVE to support a criminal indefinitely in the penal system. Believe you me, sentencing a criminal to death row is far more expensive, and not just in dollars. That so-called painless lethal injection does not get delivered for free. Oh, and all the media coverage. Big bucks! But, what of the stain on society for turning personal tragedy (victim's AND perpetrator's) into a circus? Nobody wins. Everybody loses.

How much does it REALLY take to provide a criminal with enough food for sustenance throughout a life sentence - a little medical care and some warm clothing thrown in? We all know that criminals can certainly and often do earn their keep during jail terms. More often than not, they are given productive things to do; maybe not glamorous jobs, but have you ever heard of "chain gangs" (much more satisfying than oblivion by injection), farming, mining, heck, even basket weaving! These supposedly dispensable criminal types are a whole labor force to be culled by a greedy consumer culture. We are talking about a lot of able-bodied men and women!

Then too, we must consider the possibility that a hardened criminal may actually reform. Whether or not society deems that person safe enough to let loose on the streets, there is still the option of a productive and relatively rewarding future within prison walls.

Many

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