Periodically, I argue with a lawyer friend of mine about application of the death penalty.
He’s argued before the U.S. Supreme Court before, so I can’t pretend I’ve won our debate.
I grudgingly concede we have reached an impasse.
He contends the death penalty is too expensive to enforce and the punishment doesn’t deter future criminals.
Au contraire, I reply. It certainly deters the criminal in question from committing future murders.
Because he’s my friend, I can’t bring myself to tell him to his face the real problem with the death penalty are the hacks in his profession, making ridiculous arguments that waste the court’s time and taxpayer money.
Instead, I’ll publish this piece behind his back and wait like a coward for him to read my blog.
You’ve been served notice, my friend, and we both know who you are.
Here’s an example that illustrates my better argument.
Lawyers working on a current death penalty case have put forth a novel argument to defend their client.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that attorneys for a prisoner on Death Row are in court arguing about the safety of drugs used to execute their client. We’re seriously asked to care whether or not a prisoner in the process of execution experiences any pain whatsoever?
You’re worried about the safety involved with the manner of his death?
Does this strike anyone else as unbelievably ridiculous?
Your brothers of the bar are asking a judge from the same system that decreed it humane forcing death by starvation and dehydration for Terri Schiavo (who was innocent of criminal behavior) to insist on better treatment for a man condemned to death?
A man judged guilty of a capital crime by a jury of his peers?
Just for the record, the drugs in question have been used while in my presence to euthanize my dearly departed canine companions when they suffered at the very end of life.
With great sadness, I stayed with my beloved friends until the bittersweet end. Let me assure every reader in no uncertain terms, I am absolutely sure that they did not suffer.
Best dog ever Sheba passed most recently, gently fading into eternal sleep. I distinctly remember asking our vet as her body quivered with spasms of death if life still resided in her body or if she suffered any pain. He assured me had been over as quickly and peacefully as it initially appeared.
Every living organism goes through these same death throes. It’s patently absurd to suggest they indicate cruel and unusual punishment when they occur upon the death of an evil person.
I would say good luck arguing that nonsense, but we are talking about the American judicial system.
If you seriously expect common sense and rational thought to guarantee justice will prevail, just remember these two words: Casey Anthony.
I doubt anyone seriously believes she was innocent in the case of her daughter’s death. She just wasn’t proved guilty.
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