Post by sclcookie on May 31, 2006 2:23:09 GMT -5
State should say no to death penalty
Dear Editor: Wisconsin citizens will face a question of life or death in November with an advisory referendum in which voters advocate or oppose the reinstitution of the death penalty. Will Wisconsin make the number of states with capital punishment 39? Sometimes the majority is not the exemplar. Wisconsin must set an example by remaining a state that does not espouse "an eye for an eye."
Statistics have repeatedly indicated that the death penalty does not deter crime. Data frequently suggest that capital crimes are not significantly lower in the states that have long maintained the ultimate penalty. While such indicators should serve as substantial reason not to reinstate the death penalty, there are other elements of the case against this form of punishment that beg equal thought.
All of our closest allies have long eschewed depriving criminals of life as punishment for even the most heinous crimes. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and a host of other countries have abolished the death penalty and all of these countries have lower crime rates than the United States, although this fact is likely the result of a host of conditions the least of which being capital punishment. Perhaps Wisconsin could benefit from attempting to understand why crime and the attitudes toward capital punishment contrast so greatly with the United States?
Is the nature of crime and criminal psychology really so different to the United States than the aforementioned nations? The fact that these countries do not have the death penalty has not created a glut of murderers prowling the streets. A quick check of the FBI's October 2005 Uniform Crime Statistics report indicates that Wisconsin's current murder rate is well below that of a majority of the states that still carry out capital punishment.
Those who contribute to our statistical pool of convicted murderers do not lead a pleasant life in maximum security prisons. There are no recreation room visits for these criminals, no health-club-esque fitness gyms, and only very rarely does Elvis make a visit to sing "Jailhouse Rock." Solitary confinement is frequent, and those who lead such an existence might wish they had committed their crime in one of the 38 death-penalty states.
Although a majority of the states have continued to employ capital punishment for murder, we as a country still grapple with whether or not such a penalty can be construed as cruel and unusual punishment, whether or not it is right to kill in return for killing. Much of the Western world has been unable to reconcile itself to the role of deciding who may live and who may not, and a similarly weighty decision now rests in the hands of Wisconsin voters. It is time to make a choice that will maintain Wisconsin's position as one state standing against the erroneous many.
Janis Finkelman -- Madison
(source: Letter to the Editor, Capital Times)
Dear Editor: Wisconsin citizens will face a question of life or death in November with an advisory referendum in which voters advocate or oppose the reinstitution of the death penalty. Will Wisconsin make the number of states with capital punishment 39? Sometimes the majority is not the exemplar. Wisconsin must set an example by remaining a state that does not espouse "an eye for an eye."
Statistics have repeatedly indicated that the death penalty does not deter crime. Data frequently suggest that capital crimes are not significantly lower in the states that have long maintained the ultimate penalty. While such indicators should serve as substantial reason not to reinstate the death penalty, there are other elements of the case against this form of punishment that beg equal thought.
All of our closest allies have long eschewed depriving criminals of life as punishment for even the most heinous crimes. The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and a host of other countries have abolished the death penalty and all of these countries have lower crime rates than the United States, although this fact is likely the result of a host of conditions the least of which being capital punishment. Perhaps Wisconsin could benefit from attempting to understand why crime and the attitudes toward capital punishment contrast so greatly with the United States?
Is the nature of crime and criminal psychology really so different to the United States than the aforementioned nations? The fact that these countries do not have the death penalty has not created a glut of murderers prowling the streets. A quick check of the FBI's October 2005 Uniform Crime Statistics report indicates that Wisconsin's current murder rate is well below that of a majority of the states that still carry out capital punishment.
Those who contribute to our statistical pool of convicted murderers do not lead a pleasant life in maximum security prisons. There are no recreation room visits for these criminals, no health-club-esque fitness gyms, and only very rarely does Elvis make a visit to sing "Jailhouse Rock." Solitary confinement is frequent, and those who lead such an existence might wish they had committed their crime in one of the 38 death-penalty states.
Although a majority of the states have continued to employ capital punishment for murder, we as a country still grapple with whether or not such a penalty can be construed as cruel and unusual punishment, whether or not it is right to kill in return for killing. Much of the Western world has been unable to reconcile itself to the role of deciding who may live and who may not, and a similarly weighty decision now rests in the hands of Wisconsin voters. It is time to make a choice that will maintain Wisconsin's position as one state standing against the erroneous many.
Janis Finkelman -- Madison
(source: Letter to the Editor, Capital Times)