Post by marion on Jun 29, 2006 1:53:36 GMT -5
America sadly alone
Charleston Gazette, Editorial
June 28, 2006
NEARLY all advanced democracies around the world have banned the death
penalty, a relic from the Dark Ages of torture chambers, beheading blocks
and the stake. Human civilization mostly has risen to a more enlightened
level.
England no longer kills prisoners - even if they're Irish Catholic
terrorists who massacre women and children. The rest of Europe has joined in
halting executions. So have Canada and other places with humane values.
It isn't because these nations coddle murderers. They're quite aware that
killers are loathsome sickos who must be locked away to keep other people
safe. But those foreign societies have developed a new outlook: They don't
want their homelands to be brutal places that sink to the level of the
murderers through deadly revenge. Governments are supposed to codify the
wisest thinking of the people - not eye-for-an-eye urges.
Today, countries still practicing the death penalty mostly are grim
societies like China or North Korea - or Muslim lands where "blasphemers"
are beheaded in public. Sadly, about half of America remains among places
with governmental killings. Pro-death conservatives and fundamentalists
exert enough pressure to keep capital punishment alive in most states,
although many of them rarely use it. Mainline churches unanimously oppose
executions, but they lack enough political clout to swing the nation.
Texas is America's execution hub. While George W. Bush was governor, he set
a killing record - and mocked one woman who was put to death. Such
coarseness repels most foreigners. Many nations now resist extraditing
prisoners to America, if there's a chance they may be killed. Usually, U.S.
prosecutors must pledge not to seek the death penalty before foreign
authorities will return a suspect for trial.
America's stigma was reinforced Monday when conservative justices on the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled once again that states may execute prisoners.
Moderate justices cited studies showing that dozens of Americans who have
been condemned to death later were exonerated. But far-right Justice Antonin
Scalia and his allies prevailed in a narrow 5-4 ruling.
As we've said many times, we're glad that West Virginia stands among states
that abolished the barbaric death penalty. It is a sign of decency in the
Mountain State. It doesn't signify sympathy for murderers. Instead, it shows
that West Virginians want their state government to operate by higher
values.
We wish the rest of America would join this move upward.
Charleston Gazette, Editorial
June 28, 2006
NEARLY all advanced democracies around the world have banned the death
penalty, a relic from the Dark Ages of torture chambers, beheading blocks
and the stake. Human civilization mostly has risen to a more enlightened
level.
England no longer kills prisoners - even if they're Irish Catholic
terrorists who massacre women and children. The rest of Europe has joined in
halting executions. So have Canada and other places with humane values.
It isn't because these nations coddle murderers. They're quite aware that
killers are loathsome sickos who must be locked away to keep other people
safe. But those foreign societies have developed a new outlook: They don't
want their homelands to be brutal places that sink to the level of the
murderers through deadly revenge. Governments are supposed to codify the
wisest thinking of the people - not eye-for-an-eye urges.
Today, countries still practicing the death penalty mostly are grim
societies like China or North Korea - or Muslim lands where "blasphemers"
are beheaded in public. Sadly, about half of America remains among places
with governmental killings. Pro-death conservatives and fundamentalists
exert enough pressure to keep capital punishment alive in most states,
although many of them rarely use it. Mainline churches unanimously oppose
executions, but they lack enough political clout to swing the nation.
Texas is America's execution hub. While George W. Bush was governor, he set
a killing record - and mocked one woman who was put to death. Such
coarseness repels most foreigners. Many nations now resist extraditing
prisoners to America, if there's a chance they may be killed. Usually, U.S.
prosecutors must pledge not to seek the death penalty before foreign
authorities will return a suspect for trial.
America's stigma was reinforced Monday when conservative justices on the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled once again that states may execute prisoners.
Moderate justices cited studies showing that dozens of Americans who have
been condemned to death later were exonerated. But far-right Justice Antonin
Scalia and his allies prevailed in a narrow 5-4 ruling.
As we've said many times, we're glad that West Virginia stands among states
that abolished the barbaric death penalty. It is a sign of decency in the
Mountain State. It doesn't signify sympathy for murderers. Instead, it shows
that West Virginians want their state government to operate by higher
values.
We wish the rest of America would join this move upward.