WHEN I was younger, my older brother would always beat me up. My parents tried to break up as many of our fights as they could, and it upset me that they always got mad at me for fighting back. "Two wrongs don't make a right," my dad would tell me. Proponents of the death penalty should heed my father's advice, as putting someone to death never rights a wrong.
It's also wrong to vote for a presidential candidate who has overseen more executions than any other elected official since his election to office in 1995. Since Texas resumed capital punishment in 1981, the state has executed 231 people. More than half of those who have been executed in Texas since then have lost their lives under the auspices of Gov. George W. Bush (R).
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America was ranked last year as third in the world for total number of executions, behind only the Congo, which was in the midst of a civil war, and China. This clearly unreasonable and uncivilized practice must end in order to restore humanity and civility to the United States. A major presidential contender showing his wholehearted support for such an outlandish practice doesn't make America a role model for other countries.
The death penalty is greatly racially biased. A disproportionate number of people of color currently are sitting on death row, which serves as a clear indicator of the problems our society must deal with before we are able to address the issue of the death penalty.
Though African Americans are only 12 percent of the population, they compose 40 percent of prisoners on the Texas death row. Almost two-thirds of Texas death row inmates are non-white. By following through with as many executions as possible, Bush has chosen to turn a blind eye to this overwhelming racial disparity.
The United States has a historically bad record regarding racial minorities. Even today, people are racist. Even today, racial minorities are more disadvantaged economically than whites. And even today, racial minorities are subject to racial profiling by the police. Until these unfair realities are removed from our world, the death penalty cannot serve as a fair punishment for anyone. Racism has been an evil power in our society forever, and electing a president who disregards these problems of our society would be a grave mistake.
The death penalty unjustly punishes the poor because of their lack of sufficient financial resources. If a defendant has enough money to afford excellent legal counsel, he or she will be able to avoid death. However, over 90 percent of capital murder defendants are indigent and cannot afford to hire an experienced defense attorney for representation. Many of these destitute defendants are relegated to poorly trained public defenders who have little experience in the courtroom.
The Civil Rights Project, a civil rights group based in Texas, confirmed in a report that incompetent defense lawyers had been appointed in several Texas capital cases. According to the report, the incompetent attorneys were appointed by judges who sometimes appoint friends or political associates to the cases. Often, good lawyers are unwilling to take death penalty cases due to the small compensation. If Bush truly was concerned about the lives of potentially innocent defendants, he would ensure that they received excellent legal counsel.
Because mistakes are made in the judicial process, the death penalty should not continue. Several years and even decades after an individual has been imprisoned, new evidence can be found to exonerate that person. But if a person is executed and new evidence is found, nothing can be done to make reparation for the lost of that life. Saving one innocent person from an unjust execution is worth freeing 1000 guilty people from the same fate. We cannot permit our imperfect judicial system to make life and death decisions - there's too much at risk and too much room for irreversible error.
Innocent and mentally incompetent people have been executed under Bush's rule, something he seems not to be too concerned about. On Aug. 9, Bush allowed the execution of a mentally retarded person, Oliver Cruz, to go forward. Even though the prosecutor at Cruz's trial argued that he should be executed because he "may not be smart," which made him "more dangerous" to society, Bush continued with the execution. This irresponsibility on Bush's part must not be condoned. Indeed, it should be rebuked. Voters should send a strong message on election day that they do not support Bush's complete and total disregard for human life.
Through his reckless use of the death penalty, it has become blatantly clear that Bush does not stand by principle. Rather, he stands by whatever will score him political points. If Bush were truly a man of "compassionate" conservatism, he would work to develop a more appropriate and fair punishment those convicted of crimes.
(Andrew Borchini is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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