State Senator Lynn Hutchings defense of the death penalty:

The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and me. I’m grateful to him for our future hope because of this. Governments were instituted to execute justice. If it wasn’t for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope.

Yes. And Jews were involved, on a corner, in the execution of Christ, and because of that, Christianity has always been afflicted by raging antisemitism that culminated (we hope) in the terror regime of Nazi Germany.

So, if American executions would happen to produce a future religion, that religion would then treat Americans like Nazis treated Jews?

I have a proposal:

Fucking stop it! Now!

If we put all moral and ethical aspects of the death penalty aside for a moment, I still land at this: For a one hundred percent permanent punishment to be justified in any way, shape or form, the least we should demand is a one hundred percent error free and fair justice system.

If you’ve been around people, other than imaginary friends, you know no one is one hundred percent perfect.

But that’s what a one hundred percent error free justice system lands in. One hundred percent perfect people one hundred percent of the time.

No witnesses getting things mixed up, no police mixing up evidence material, no lawyers with bad days. Not to mention, no forensic methods (2, 3) with questionable scientific value. Just to mention a few of all the places where justice systems can fail.

One hundred percent perfect people, one hundred percent of the time.

Or the death penalty should be off the table…

Unless, of course, the reasoning is that you have to accept some losses. A few innocent deaths are the price we have to pay…

And… if that’s the argument, why not just save all that money and apply it to the victims in the first place?

What’s the difference between a murder victim and an innocent person that has been executed?

Have you ever heard someone say, “what if it was your child?” in a discussion about the death penalty?

Let’s examine that sentiment…

As a parent it’s your moral duty to protect your child’s life, right?

What if your child committed a crime that would result in a death penalty, and you knew where the only witness lived? Is it now your moral duty to silence that witness permanently?

Would it, on the other hand, be moral if you killed that witness if you child only risked a long prison sentence?

The death penalty is almost as dumb as letting murderers get off without a consequence.

Here’s the reasoning:

The death penalty is a 100% permanent punishment. You cannot take it back. Once a person is executed they are dead.

So, it stands to reason that if a country wants to use the death penalty the judicial process for sentencing people to death in that country should also be 100% — correct, fair and fault free.

This means 100% correct and honest witnesses and evidence. 100% honest and competent police officers, judges, lawyers, and prosecutors.

In case you were unaware; the people listed above are also human beings. They are not gods, so, they are not 100% correct 100% of the time.

So why use a 100% permanent punishment and allow people and systems that aren’t 100% fault free decide when and on who to use it?

Is the reasoning that a few innocent people sentenced to death and executed are an acceptable cost?

If you answer yes to that question, remember the murder victims were also innocent.

Why spend all this money on a justice system, trials, and retrials, lawyers and prosecutors, just to risk sacrificing some more innocent people?

Why not just drop the whole prosecute-murderers-thing and tell the victims families that some innocent people dead is an acceptable cost?

OK. That’s obviously an exaggeration. I am sure in most cases actual murderers are executed.

The problem is that nobody knows who’s innocent and who’s guilty with a faulty justice system (not 100% correct 100% of the time, you know, like, run by imperfect humans).

I think it’s common sense and decency to not dole out 100% permanent punishments in an imperfect world.