November 8, 2012
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exsequi
execute: derives from Latin exsequi, “carry out, follow up; punish”
I’ve got something on my mind. Truthfully, I can’t be bothered with things like facts. I just know what I think is morally wrong. This opinion is developing constantly as my gut feeling is confronted by what is related. I’m not about influencing people: your opinion is worth as much as mine. (at least to you) But mine is mine and I feel like talking about it. Perhaps that’s enough preamble.
I awakened this morning to the shocking news, which I hoped was just the creation of my bizarre and sometimes worrisome imagination, that there was an execution scheduled for this very day in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania. I was stunned. I hadn’t even known that my home state, where I have lived most of my life, in fact, had the death penalty. Let alone that there was a death chamber (whatever it is, I do not care what method was chosen as optimal to kill somebody legally) not 20 minutes from where my children lay their sweet heads. Perhaps we should cue patriotic music here or We Are The World or something. How in the heck does a state founded by Quakers have the death penalty as an option?
Anyhow. I was late to work so I did what I usually do for information. Not google this time, but an obnoxious Facebook post whereupon I received confirmation that my state had scheduled this act of barbarism on this night. (My mother’s birthday, incidentally. Also my mother-in-law. Although I doubt either one of them would have any qualms with the death penalty, both being fine church-going women. meow) This thought rocked my faith in the world. How in the heck do you justify the punishment of killing a human being for killing another human being? I realize there are other sides to consider. I realize that perhaps the family of the girl who was killed would sleep better at night knowing the animal who killed her was no longer on the earth. I realize that some people can’t be rehabilitated. But I just can’t accept that this is right. My mind refuses to see how it makes sense for someone(s) to decide that a man (even an evil man) should not be alive because he made the decision that someone else should not be alive.
And it makes my brain explode to think what this means. Remember when Osama Bin Laden was executed? I do. People cheered. Call me un-American, but I could not. It made me sick to my stomach the joy that the crowd found in his death. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no saint. I do not mind that his time on earth has ended. But to cheer for another human being’s death does not sit well with me. That someone deliberately targeted this person for death makes me feel a little dirty. Yes, certainly, this decision probably saved thousands of lives and maybe retribution itself is sweet. Which is what makes this issue so complicated.
If I can’t stand the idea of killing someone who is guilty, what can I possibly think about wars and abortion, when innocent people are involved? My father was in Korea, but he doesn’t talk about it with me. He has with spouseman. I’ve certainly run across people and heard about people who came back from wars. And I watched Forest Gump. (that was supposed to be humor) And I’m sorry for them. I can’t imagine serving my country that way. I will call it that, no matter how much of a pacifist I am, because I understand that they have sacrificed much for what they believed in. And I’ve never been in the position that I needed to choose an abortion, for which I’m very grateful. I always suspected that a friend in high school had one, but I never asked and I never judged. I wouldn’t want to make that choice is all.
Life is so freaking complicated.
I was relieved that the execution was stayed. Postponed maybe. But it didn’t happen tonight and this just feels right. Call me an idealist or a simpleton if you feel better doing so, but I think life is something far from disposable.
Comments (55)
Are you talking about Jared Lauffner? (Apologies if you weren’t intending on having his name come up) I heard about his sentence on the radio, but nothing more than his name. The radio host described his actions as “atrociousness and heinous; completely evil”
@ChainBracelets - actually, no. hubert michael. he kidnapped, raped, and killed a 16 year old girl in 1994, i think. my daughter turns 16 in a little over a month. i’d probably do him in myself if he touched my girl. and hope that pa. didn’t execute me for it. (which might be completely contrary to what i’ve said here)
I don’t support the death penalty either.
@songoftheheart - i was pretty sure of that, jo.
@promisesunshine - Ah, well then I’ll need to do some deeper research on this Jared person. I’m on the fence with the death penalty, some people can be very cruel and sadistic. It’s hard for me to ultimately decide, though, because my uncle was almost executed for a crime he didn’t commit. He was accused of an earlier sexual harassment and later the rape of a 12 year old. She turned up dead from a homicide a couple months later after she told authorities what happened prior.
It was an unfair sentence because my uncle was with us when she claims she was sexually harassed and raped, however, she was also in the same area that were vacationing in while it happened; she also described him when she was taken for a victim report. Her mother testified that her “little girl would never lie”. No evidence of his DNA was found on her body, so that ruled it the rape and sexual harassment, but somehow he was deemed to have murdered her because a couple articles of his clothing were found at the crime scene.
We were all confused as to how his clothes ended up there because like I said, he was with us the entire time. Her mother visited his house, though, while he was on parole. Luckily he wasn’t put to the death penalty, but he still has 10 years left on his sentence.
Have a good week end coming up all to fast.
@ChainBracelets - so you have a different perspective. that’s part of the reason i have a problem with it. i read a book where an innocent man was executed. how can we be 100% positive that the justice system is served? i don’t think we can be. and i would rather an guilty man stay alive than an innocent man die. in addition to killing being a wrong thing altogether.
@Grannys_Place - and mine is a busy one full of the same junk that my past weekends have been full of. whining a bit.
@promisesunshine - Yep. In reality, the only people who know the truth are the predator and the victim. And the suggested predator might not even be the offender. This is why I wish Lord of the Rings applied to our world, so we could depend on the elves to show us some truth.
It is really up to the people of the state, as to whether there is a death penalty- albeit through their legislature. I am fine with a solitary confinement- one meal a day, for the rest of his life.
@RighteousBruin - yes, it’s time for me to be more aware politically. i like your idea of punishment.
Death penalty is one of the sickest saddest things on eart
What I think is worst is that thre’s no real social value on doing it but it’s just a barbaric costumed held just to apeace or entertain people
@xXxlovelylollipop - i’m so glad you agree with me. i almost went to demonstrate. i’ve never done that before in my life.
@promisesunshine - I can understand the impulse…it’s just so disheartening *hug*
I concur.
You’ve basically said how I feel about this execution and Bin Laden’s death. You’ve said it all perfectly and honestly, I’m disappointed with Pennsylvania. However, this would not be the first time I’ve felt disappointed in my state.
@xXxlovelylollipop - I am sort of sad California did not repeal the death sentence law. Think of the most liberal state in the US not passing the death penalty (70% of San Francisco wanted to end the death penalty)
Besides avoiding killing possible innocent people the judicial system is saddled with a horribly expensive re-trial program to determine if a person would be truly guilty of being executed.
A waste of money and possibly shows how barbaric Americans truly are.
Being a believer in God, the 10 commandments do state: “Thou shalt not kill.” With that being said, I think that only God has the power and right to give and take away a life; not a power of choice for people to make or decide.
@Babieboo_Annie - God also mandated the death penalty for murder (and a lot of other things as some anti-Christian poster will more than likely be oh so happy to point out).
frankly i find it a bit offensive that we feed, clothe and shelter murderers and rapists and others of the like at no cost to them while people who are down on their luck are dying of starvation and exposure in the street. call me a barbarian, that’s fine. let me live in a land where murderers and rapists are done away with, the poor and hungry are clothed instead, and the rest of you can laugh at murder/rape victims who will never know true justice because the life of their attacker is more valuable than their own. For me, if i could get a hold of just one person who had hurt my beloved i would kill them so hard that everyone three cities over would die of shock. i think having the government do away with them would be better than letting me find them and making them suffer first.
@iones_island - We should send murderers, rapists, abusers, etc. to an isolated and let them go at it “Battle Royale” style. (Great movie, but rather graphic.)
it’s a difficult subject to discuss.
@iones_island - by all means, let’s fix that flawed penal system. no way should we should feed and clothe criminals for free.
@Babieboo_Annie - i’m frightened of people who play god. like murderers and politicians.
@plantinthewindow - yes, it is. i was just sharing what was in my head. some of it that cleans up nice.
@PPhilip - pretty sad election in cali
@Shining_Garnet - i wonder if our two recent governors are really as horrible as they seem or if all of our governors have been awful and i just wasn’t paying attention.
@xXrEMmUsXx - thanks
This subject sits hard with me. I don’t have any real arguments either, but it doesn’t sit well for me either. Wish I was omnipotent enough to know what to do, because I don’t think execution is the right choice either.
@wickedgood - i wouldn’t want to be omnipotent. wouldn’t want that responsibility.
Not disagreeing or diminishing what you say – as a matter of fact emphatically agreeing with your point that we impose a variety of death penalties in this world. A lot have nothing with courts or wars.
i was wondering if i would be the first in your huge fan club to offer a unique pov. well, of course i am. gah. i won’t tell you where my mind just went with that. ok. one of the teachers i read, just laughs, about the death sentence thing. because he/she says, what we’re doing is giving them Heaven. we’re putting them back to where everything is just Perfect. you know, like that Home you wrote of. your RighteousBruin has it right, real punishment is keeping them here, in a cage. oxoo
@Bels_Kaylar - that’s going to take a great deal of pondering. because i’m not sure a free ride to heaven is what i think they deserve. don’t want murderers hanging out in my perfect place taking up my space until i get there. that just ain’t right. i do appreciate your alternative pov. (“pish” on the fan club comment)
@promisesunshine - no big deal. I understand.
@plantinthewindow - i forgot you were a vet. i hope you (and others) understand that i mean no disrespect. in my mind it’s possible to have a world where armies are unneeded. that probably makes me a whole lot of naive. hugs john.
am totally with you on this, all of it. murder is murder. it’s one of the big ones. and there should be some punishment, but no one has the right to take another life. however, i do believe in self-defense. i’m a gun-totin’ person. no one is going to bother me or mine if i can help it – i have no qualms in blowing someone’s head to pieces if they were so inclined to kill my child or my loved ones. or me. and that is that.
otherwise, the wars, the abortions, the insanity of some people – that’s out of my control though i wish it weren’t. all this to say…yep. i’m with you on this post. down to the murder of osama bin laden and john lennon and lincoln and kennedy(ies) – to name the well-knowns. right down to the person on the street. kicked by cops until they’re bloody dead or might as well be. just an opinion here, too. of course.
ps: read “the executioner’s song” by norman mailor. it’s a stunner. death by gunfire. utah started the death penalty back up again/ back in the late 70s. is what it’s about. and though gilmore begged them to “just do it” because he was sick of the politics, they dragged their sweet asses about it, took their time. gave him stay upon stay (was punishment enough to him, so the book goes).
“i’ve said too much, i haven’t said enough”
@be_the_rain - wrote that down for the blessed day when i can read a book. i don’t think i’d just lay down and take it if someone tried a harm on my peops.
I agree. To me, killing someone as part of retribution for a crime accomplishes nothing but admits that society is uncaring. For one thing, None of us are ever as bad in toto as we have been at one time. I may have done something bad, but that does not describe me in toto. For another thing, it means that society is to cheap or idle or uncaring to try to see how this individual could still have a productive life. Even if it were in prison, surely there is some way of letting this person live a productive life. Unless we just don’t care. Which I’m afraid describes much of our society.
@curiousdwk - i think you have captured my issue with this. that society thinks humans are expendable and that any individual is useless. it cannot be truth.
If you’re really interested, I would like to present a challenge for you. Investigate what Restorative Justice is all about. Most people don’t even know that there are options for our justice system – they think that what we have is our only option. Restorative Justice is a great option and I wish it would catch on more here in the States. There are several places where it is utilized, but usually with Teens or with non-violent crimes. But it’s a start.
@curiousdwk - i’m interested, but i have an enormous deadline i’m working/worrying on. i hope i remember to look back here so i can look into this.
The argument in favor of the death penalty is that it carries out justice.
If you steal a bicycle you give it back plus pay a penalty.
If you take someone’s life, you forfeit your own and the balance is restored.
Because our justice system is such a shambles I am against the death penalty however.
@PrisonerxOfxLove -
cannot believe you actually agree with me on something. i need a moment of silence to absorb this moment.
if you take someone’s life, you need to give it back for balance to be restored. and the substitute is poor. the value of the murderer’s life cannot possibly repay the value of the loved one’s life.
actually, i think i might disagree with the bicycle too. if you steal a bicycle and you return the bicycle, then you learn that you shouldn’t steal other people’s stuff. if you steal a bicycle, return it, pay a penalty, you learn not to get caught. i do understand that this has to start at the ground floor. my dippy, sappy, idealistic ways aren’t going to work (immediately) with people who have learned the wrong ways to live.
it occurs to me now that you didn’t say that you even accept the argument about the purpose of the death penalty. you motivate me to think better.
I can tell you none of the men who conducted the Osama bin Laden raid celebrated his death. In fact, the executioner never celebrates. Maybe we should have the lawyer who seeks the death penalty perform the duties of executioner if they are successful. On the other hand, I don’t think warehousing the convicted is the answer.
@crazyforfsh48 - i approve that idea- having the lawyer do it. i think the watchers wouldn’t celebrate either if they were actually thinking for themselves. human beings do some frightening things when we are in a group. i don’t know the answer. to anything.
Consistent and thoughtful.
My problem with the USA death penalty is not one principle, but of error. Northwestern crime students studied the public records of death row inamates. To make a long story short, their were so many mistakes that all of those on death row had their sentences lowered. Some went free. Then another Illinois class did the same thing and found more of the same.
The Innocent Program shows that 25% of men in prison on rape are innocent when DNA is still available to be tested.
I do not trust our judicial system, so I am opposed to the death penalty even though I have no qualms about it.
frank
@ANVRSADDAY - what got me to think about this at all was hearing about just those kinds of mistakes. we need a flawless system to have such a permanent action. and we know that’s not going to happen.
This is an issue I’m very torn on. On the one hand, I agree with you that it is barbaric. On the other hand, the perp’s deed was in and of itself barbaric. Whose life has more value? The perp or the victim? I can honestly say that if I witnessed someone harming my son, I would become judge, jury and executioner.
@Kellsbella - i think i would be the same with my girls. wouldn’t make it right, for sure. but there it is. i don’t think we can judge value. we don’t see the whole picture. it’s complicated. i don’t imagine for a nanosecond that i have the right answer.
I agree, I think when we give power to the state to kill our citizens, we are just begging for trouble.
@BoulderChristina - when i finish up this thing i’m doing, i’m going to look into kicking that bad policy out of my state. i think i’m serious about it.
When a young sixteen year old girl is raped and murdered, all I can think of, is the anguish and devastation the parents and the rest of the family feel. I am hardhearted and would definitely not want that predator around, not in the city, not in a prison. He should be brutally dealt with, and disposed off, like he dealt with the young girl. You say that if anyone raped your sixteen year old, you would kill him yourself. How is that different from the feelings of the family whose daughter was indeed raped and murdered?
I am a horrible person I am sure for thinking like this, but that’s my own opinion.
@ZSA_MD - i do not think you are hard-hearted or horrible, zakiah. i was just thinking “out loud”. i had a long answer, but firefox made me lose it. the most important part of my answer has already been said.
what a wonderful and civil think tank you’ve started here!
it is a difficult subject. I used to be fairly pro-death penalty. I’m not sure exactly where I fall but it definitely turns my stomach. I think my problem with killing killers is that it makes us killers, too. It isn’t only about the condemned. For mere practicality, there may be situations, historically or theoretically speaking, where incarceration would be very difficult. In those situations, I imagine a mob mentality would prevail. We have other options as a modern society.
@distractedbyzombies - that’s exactly it. killing killers makes us killers.
am fresh from glarring at a point of objectivism because it’s encouraging takers not givers. okay yay more chances to have a glowing opinion MINE. the threat of death has been shown to be no deterrant against crime so it’s main reason is false why therefore have it?
@starmanjones - another excellent point. if it’s not a deterrent then we must have it because we want retribution rather that punishment.
@promisesunshine - ;) here’s an undercutting point though
not much in life is cut and dried. white or black. so perhaps one an consider the the emotions of the “mob” witnessing social control, the deterrant of the criminal choosing again their behaviour is shown not functioning but are the people in line soially oops one less? sadly, YES. the mob likes bread and circuses. 
or my favorite fallacy, the mob wouldn’t allow this…which happens very rarely.
@starmanjones - i will not let mob mentality decide my moral code.
@promisesunshine - :)