Can we talk about a contentious issue for a minute? The death penalty might be something that some of you otherwise progressive folks disagree with me on. Lets talk about it. Many years ago I signed a legal document Declaration of Life stating should I ever be murdered in a place that has the death penalty, that I DO NOT want my potential killer to face the possibility of a death penalty, I am formally asking in advance that he/she face life without parole instead or life with parole even if its applicable. In the event of my death this document (because its not binding on prosecutors) would be sent not only to the prosecutor, but to the defense lawyer and all local media saying the victim in this case does NOT support the death penalty and that it would be an insult to my memory to charge even the person who murdered me with the death penalty. Because why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong. Its not logical, its just anger, and while I feel that anger too - especially in the case of someone who would hurt a child or other vulnerable person - after all my years of work against the death penalty, seeing it in practice, seeing it through the eyes of the prisoner, the prisoners family, the lawyers on both sides, and the families of the victims who walk out of the execution chamber not feeling any better than when they walked in.... we should be really happy that Canada has moved away from the death penalty. Internationally (outside of the USA) it really is viewed as grevious issue of human rights, countries are not even allowed to be part of the European Union if they had retained it, even Russia got rid of it because of all the abuses possible - its only the US standing alone in the western world that retains it - along with places like China, Iran, Iraq, The Sudan...countries known for their many abuses of human rights. If we were to even HINT about bringing it back in any real way (and the only party that would ever think of supporting it is the CONservatives, which should give any activist pause). They say in our movement that support for the death penalty is a mile wide and an inch deep...meaning EVERYONE supports it because we all identify with the victims of course and want to hurt those who would hurt them...but its only an inch deep because when people look into it and see what i have seen - the way it works in practice -- even the hardest core pro death penalty supporter who has a smidgen of concern about fairness, equality, or even getting things right... turns against it pretty quick, unless its the stepping stone to their career. We also say in the movement the death penalty - its not about who has the worst crime, but about who has the worst lawyer that depends if you get the punishment...and a prisoner who was executed in the late 70s in Florida said it best. It all comes down to money, not justice. You could kill 50 people and get life. You could kill one and get death. Capital Punishment, he said Them without the capital, get the punishment. And that is the reality of the death penalty. Take it from me, the co-founder and director of the CCADP - Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty - its been the issue of my heart for a lot of years. I know its a contentious one, so please excuse my coming in to make my points - hope you all still love me even if this is an issue we will passionately disagree on.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 12:26:19 +0000