Letter to the Editor: Lessons Learned from the Execution of George Stinney, 14, and Other Children

Dear Cascade Patch:

Thank you for sharing the picture and the case of George Stinney, 14, the youngest executed U.S. Death Row Inmate with your readers on Oct. 7, 2011.

While I in no way whatsoever condone the actions of the killers who found themselves on death row, and my sympathies are always with the victims and their families, I believe the alternative of life in prison is better as it is more humane and can be corrected if an error is made, unlike the death penalty which is irreversible and unfairly applied.

The problem as I see it is that there are some cases which are so horrific and gruesome that the death penalty seems emotionally satisfying, even sometimes to death penalty opponents. We can point to such cases, and most folks will concede that perhaps this time, death is warranted.  But the line between “this person truly deserves death” and “this person does not” is a gray area with a sliding scale. 

It is in this region that the accused is most at risk based on his or her race, sex, religion, and even region of the state in which the crime occurred. Where do we draw the line? It is not inconceivable that two people, committing identical crimes in different part of the state, could end up with one being condemned to death and the other to prison. 

Removing death as an option and replacing it with “true” life without parole takes away the subjective (and human, and therefore flawed) decision of whom to kill away from well meaning but fallible people.

In my opinion there are too many imponderables and subjective variables to support the death penalty, even if it were not (again, in my opinion) barbaric, immoral and ineffective.  It cannot be implemented fairly, and there are no studies which suggest it has any deterrent effect on crime. And given the fact that children are still works in progress, sometimes up to age 25, the death penalty for them should be completely out of the question. 

The standards by which we measure whether someone is eligible for the death penalty have changed over time, as have the crimes for which they can be so punished. This leads one to question whether our current standards are appropriate, or in the future will they too be seen as insufficient to merit death, which is how we would see execution for theft or witchcraft today.   It is worth pointing out that just as we believe death is a reasonable punishment for murder today, our ancestors thought exactly the same thing about witchcraft during the Colonial Period.  And many parts of the world, even today, continue to execute women for “witchcraft.”

Some 193 countries have outlawed the practice, and in 2011, only 23 actually executed a prisoner. The United States is one of those countries, and we join hands with the  estimable ranks of nations such as Afghanistan, the Palestinian Authority, DR Congo, Somalia, Syria and Iran, countries which are either lawless or dictatorships of one sort or the other. 

With much of the world walking away from killing its own citizens as a means of control, perhaps it is time to leave the authoritarian club behind and join the ranks of those countries which actually care enough about their people to at least not kill them. 

For more information about my letter, here are some links to helpful sites:

www.amnesty.org

www.stopchildexecutions.com

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row

http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/death.htm an Indiana prosecutor’s site with lots of death penalty statistics and a measured view toward the death penalty.

http://www.executedtoday.com/2009/07/19/2005-mahmoud-asgari-ayaz-marhoni-gay-teens-iran/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2040041/Alireza-Molla-Soltani-execution-Teenager-publicly-hanged-killing-Irans-strongest-man.html  teen begs for life before being hanged in Iran.

http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/125352186045501.xml&coll=2  Cleveland Plain Dealer calls for abolition of death penalty after botched execution attempt.

YouTube sites about child executions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LBDz1xTCiI about the families of executed minors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LBDz1xTCiI executions of all ages in Iran.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=zL_zP2pHp3w  executions of gays, including teens, in Iran.

--- Michael Miller is a freelance writer, former reporter and teacher living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife April and two daughters, Maria and Allie.