Death Penalty

Cleveland prosecutors have decided to ask for the death penalty for alleged serial killer Anthony Sowul.  Remains of 11 women have been found buried in the yard and inside the house where he was living.  This is one sick dude, who should never be allowed back on the street, maybe never see the light of day again.

These crimes were unimaginably horrible, the more so because no one seemed to care that these women had gone missing.  That fact alone says a lot about the society we have become.  People no longer look out for their neighbors.  We don't want to know what is happening in the neighborhood because we might have to somehow get involved.  This attitude is not hard to understand.  We are all so busy going about our daily lives, trying to make a living, keeping up with the kids' schoolwork and other activities, worrying about whether we will have jobs for much longer; we don't have time to get to know our neighbors.  What a shame.

But I have gotten off track.  This case has made me think about the death penalty.  I have always been against it; but I have also always felt that I don't know how I would feel if someone harmed a person close to me.  Maybe I would want revenge, or expect closure if the guilty person were executed.  After thinking about this for several days, I have decided I am still against the death penalty.  Two wrongs have never made a right, and to take someone's life is simply wrong.

Don't misunderstand me, the guilty person should be punished, and punished severely.  Life in prison with no opportunity of parole would be my choice; and not a country club prison either.  A cell with bars, in a row with other cells with bars, would be appropriate.  Or maybe even solitary confinement.  It costs more to put a prisoner to death than it does to keep him or her in prison for life.  There is also the chance, however slight, that the convicted person did not actually commit the crime.  Putting that person to death would eliminate any chance of atonement if he or she is later found not to have committed the crime.

Most of the countries in the world have already outlawed the death penalty, including Canada, Mexico and most of Europe.  What do they know that we don't?  Why do we still insist on capital punishment?  The death penalty is wrong.  We need to abolish it.