"Seize chance to end state's death penalty," is the Day's editorial in its Sunday edition.
Once again we call upon the General Assembly to approve and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to sign legislation abolishing the death penalty in Connecticut.
There is no evidence to back claims that the existence of a death penalty reduces murders. The 10 highest states in per capita murders all have the death penalty. Conversely, of the 10 states with the lowest murder rates, six prohibit capital punishment.
Death penalty opponents also argue that taxpayers don't want to pay to support killers in prison. But the reality is that the long appeals process is more expensive than life imprisonment. An analysis of death penalty cases in Texas found the average cost from trial to execution to be $2.3 million. A recent Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis review concluded the state would save $4 million annually in defense, prosecution and court costs due to a repeal of the death penalty.
Eliminating deterrence and savings leaves revenge as the only argument for executing murderers. Vengeance as public policy demeans us as a society, lowering the state to the level of the killer rather than taking the higher moral road.
The United States is consistently among the top five countries in the number of executions, joining China, Iran, North Korea, and Yemen. That is hardly proud company to keep when it comes to respecting human rights.
The Day carried the OpEd, "A son murdered, a hard lesson on the use of the death penalty," yesterday. It's written by Rae Giesing, whose son and his stepbrother were murdered in May 2006.
It is absolutely impossible to describe what it feels like to lose a child, much less to lose a child to violence. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Now that I have been thrown into a world where murder and trials are no longer distant or abstract notions, I have paid close attention to the efforts in Connecticut to repeal the death penalty. My personal experience has provided me with many reasons why I think Connecticut will be better off without the death penalty.
For starters, I wouldn't wish the death penalty process on any grieving family. I'm incredibly grateful my family wasn't put through the ordeal that comes with the death penalty. Capital cases nearly always take longer to go to trial and then last longer. When the trial is over, with its separate guilt and sentencing phases, and a death verdict is handed down, the journey for the families of victims just begins.
In Connecticut, only one person has been executed in the last 50 years. When someone is sentenced to death, a myriad of constitutionally mandated safeguards go into effect and the actual execution is a distant blip on the horizon. So the family members wait vigilantly for the day when the offender's punishment will finally be carried out.
In our case, prison was the punishment and we were able to see that punishment carried out immediately. We know that the young man is suffering dearly for taking the life of my son and won't be a threat to anyone else. I can't imagine how my life would be stuck on pause if I were still waiting for the "real" punishment of an execution to take place.
Earlier coverage of the Connecticut repeal debate begins at the link.
Comments