The Death Penalty
July 4, 2010
Across America, on Independence Day the 4th of July, there will be traditional
fireworks, parades, summer fun for children in swimming pools and at
ballgames, and a pervasive national outpouring of patriotism, reflected in
both flag displays and the singing of the national anthem at countless
events.
There are also almost 3,300 individuals who will not be any part of
these festivities; they are mostly forgotten, despised and reviled....
they are America's condemned.
They sit on death rows in 34 states, as well as in a military prison in
Kansas and a federal facility in Indiana. Most are overwhelmingly guilty
of vile, heinous, outrageous and terrible crimes. Many are mentally ill,
even profoundly mentally ill, and a good number are innocent of the crimes
for which they were convicted. Collectively, they are, in part,
responsible for a great deal of anger, hurt, pain and rage in our society.
They face death by firing squad, hanging, electrocution, cyanide gas, and
lethal injection (there are more methods of legitimate state-sanctioned
execution in the the USA than in any other country in the world).
As this nation is trying to emerge from the worst global financial crisis
in 70 years, it remains in desperate need of trying to find, uphold and
defend its moral soul. We are a long way from accomplishing this
important national task.
Most of America's political and judicial leaders, both male and female, in
both major parties, remain committed to upholding the ideology and
practice of human extermination. As long as any nation in the world,
inclduing the USA, retain and practice the barbarism of killing people in
the name of the law, they can never be free. If people support, or are
indifferent to the liquidataion of condemned individuals, how can we be
surprised that other horrors, such as torture, hate crimes, and crimes
against women, continue at such an alarming pace.
To be sure, some advances in the abolition of the US death penalty have
been achieved in the last decade: America has stopped executing its
juvenile and mentally retarded offenders; New Jersey and New Mexico have
legislatively ended the death penalty, and other states have, in recent
years, come close to doing the same. Over 130 innocent people have been
released from America's death rows to date, and more will emerge to the
free world in the years ahead.
But this "progress" has come at a frustratingly, agonizinly slow pace.
Of the 1224 individuals put to death in America since executions resumed
in 1977, 684 have occurred since 1998, including over 220 just in Texas
alone since Rick Perry became governor in 2001. There is no immediate end
in sight to this horror.
There will undoubtedly be the traditional praise and self-congratulatory
editorials and op-eds in our newspapers today, from coast to coast, from
our major cities to our small communities, reminding us of how lucky we
are to live in such a great nation. And in many ways, that sentiment is
correct.
But it is a fallacy to believe that assessment when considering what is
happening in this country regarding the issue of the death penalty. It is
time to face the truth, admit national pain, and come to grips with the
fact that on this issue, 234 years after the Declaration of Independence
was proclaimed (and 403 years after the British first settled here), we
are a national disgrace and failure. We remain wedded to the love of
violence, and to the preposterous idea that some people in our society
(and even around the world), can be classified as "lesser" or "other"
humans, 'deserving' to be stripped of their human dignity, caged like
animals for years, physically and psychologically tortured and
terrorized, and then ultimately liquidated in the name of the law.
On the 4th of July, when so much celebrating in America will occur, I hope and
trust that people will take a hard look at the sobering realities of
this nation and its nightmare of the death penalty. Now is the time for
all people of conscience, everywhere, to re-dedicate themselves with
renewed fervor to end this terrible scourge, so that America may join the
ranks of most nations in the world that have long since recognized the
links between advancing human progress with ending the death penalty.
When the US does abolish the death penalty, it will then, and only then,
have reasons to be proud and celebrate itself.
To this I would like to share with you. >>>
An Essay on Voting and the Death Penalty
Every year a presidential convention will soon be upon us, and that once again
means that all eligible voters will have an opportunity to participate in
the democratic function of voting.
Voters will have a fundamental choice: do we vote our conscience and
perhaps cast a vote for the person that can best represent us, regardless
of his or her chances of winning the general election...or, more
pragmatically, should we vote for the person who we think can win the
election, even if it is not our ideal candidate, hoping that either he
would be better than his opponent?
As a staunch human rights activist and fanatic death penalty opponent, I
know there is only one choice for me when November arrives. Because I am
a firm believer in the idea that there is no such thing as selective
compassion, I will once again uphold my conscience and refrain from voting
for any individual who advocates the Nazi-like mentality which upholds the
ideology and practice of exterminating human beings.
The death penalty is the major human rights issue. It is, and should
never be for any human rights activist, AN issue of a candidate's
platform.....it is, and rightfully must be, THE central issue of a
candidate's beliefs, around which all others revolve.
The overwhelming majority of my cohorts in the human rights community tell
me they voted Democratic, that Bill Clinton was "better" than President
Bush in 1992, that Al Gore was "better" than Texas Governor George Bush in
2000, and that John Kerry was better than Bush in 2004. I shake my head
in amazement and sadness at such remarks.
Bill Clinton signed 79 death warrants as governor of Arkansas, and Al Gore
repeatedly said he supports the practice of killing criminals. Kerry?
He stood against the death penalty until he ran for the White House, then
came out fervently in support of executing "terrorists."
If any candidate upholds these outrageous and barbaric ideas, they must be
seen for who and what they are: enemies of human rights, threats to the
progress of the advancement of domestic and global human rights programs,
and pathetic examples of leaders who are both unwilling and incapable of
leading this nation and its youth to a vision of a better (global) society
based upon respect, compassion, and human decency.
There is no such thing as a lesser person. A pro-death penalty candidate
cannot pass him/herself off as a compassionate person for other groups in
society while still advocating the obliteration of others who have been
dehumanized by a racist, hateful and error-filled system hell-bent on
killing the mentally ill, juveniles, the innocent, and yes, the guilty.
Are people in the human rights/social justice community really surprised
that this country has not signed or ratified the Universal Declaration of
the Rights of the Child, the Convention for the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women, the Landmine Treaty, the charter of the
International Criminal Court, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, and numerous other human rights instruments?
How can we be expected to do so when we are led by people who advocate
exterminating human beings in the name of the law? The United States
sadly remains a major barrier to the advancement of human rights in
today's world, and no current candidate seeking the Presidency supports a
universal concept of human rights.
My cohorts will invariably tell me that their important issues are (more
current issues here) free trade, or political power and the Constitution,
or tax cuts, school vouchers, separation of church and state, foreign
policy, etc. Human rights issues are almost always viewed as peripheral
....important, but not overly crucial to the point of withholding their
votes. Pity.
It was quite easy to harshly criticize Ann Richards or Bill Clinton for
their horrific views on the death penalty in particular and other human
rights concerns in general, and for their failure of leadership on the
issue of human rights and its credibility within our own society. They
were both responsible for the continued failure of advancing meaningful
human rights reform in Texas and this country. Yet many human rights
supporters voted for them at every opportunity.
It is just as easy to harshly criticize President Bush for his litany of
human rights failures. He presided over 152 executions during his tenure
as Governor of Texas, the most executions ever carried out under any
governor in America's history to that point in time (Bush's successor,
Rick Perry, has now presided over more executions than Bush). He has
maintained his horrific record of human rights violations while occupying
the most powerful office in the (western) world.
There is no reason to believe that Barak Obama will be any different.
He is on record as supporting the death penalty. They are all pro-death penalty
ideologues who believe some humans can be classified as "life unworthy of life"
and exterminated in the name of the law. Every one of them has proudly said
that they will do all they can to kill criminals and "terrorists". How, in any
sense of the word, can they be seen as "better" than their Republican opponent?
Voting is important. It is an opportunity for self-expression and
defining ourselves through the (political) choices we make.
But so is not voting.
I want to be able to vote for someone who represents the best ideas and
the highest ideals in people, who advocates a better society and who
understands that violence and extermination is in no way linked to
"progress." I want to support a true champion of human rights, not
someone who boasts of being "tough on crime" by killing people. I want to
support a candidate who is committed to human rights principles.
Human rights begin at home, and the first step toward building a better
society must begin with myself. I cannot, and will never, cast an
expedient vote which overlooks ANY aspects of a candidate's human rights
record, including his views on the death penalty. That issue is and must
be the litmus test for his views on life, compassion and human rights.
Human rights activists must be responsible enough to uphold the most
central beliefs of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as stated in
the UDHR preamble: that recognition of the inherent dignity and of the
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world; that disregard and
contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have
outraged the conscience of mankind; that the advent of a world in which
human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from
fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common
people; that it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression,
that human rights should be protected by the rule of law; that it is
essential to promote the development of friendly relations between
nations; that the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter
reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and
have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in
larger freedom; and that Member States have pledged themselves to achieve,
in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal
respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The death penalty has no place in this or any society. Say "NO" at the next
Election to any candidate who tells you otherwise.
Rick Halperin
Director, Embrey Human Rights Program,
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
and member, Amnesty International USA and
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
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Angela Grobben's Human Rights 
