E. Scott Cracraft: More reasons to abolish death penalty than to retain it

The New Hampshire legislature just voted to abolish capital punishment. While the governor has promised to veto it, it passed with such a majority that it may be veto-proof. New Hampshire may be about to join the community of civilized states and nations and abolish this outdated penalty. Very few democratic nations retain the death penalty and, because we do, we have a low human rights rating, along with such countries as Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and China.

John Demakowski recently wrote a letter to The Sun arguing that abolition of capital punishment is a moot issue since we have not hanged anyone since 1939. He is correct. Since colonial times, New Hampshire has used the death penalty only reluctantly. But, isn’t that really a good argument for getting rid of the death penalty instead of retaining it?

Mr. Demakowski purports to be a “Christian” and says that, if we oppose capital punishment, we have “blood on our hands.” Don’t we have blood on our hands when we execute an innocent person? Is the death penalty “Christian?” When I read the Gospels, I notice that Jesus stopped an execution. And, many people of faith, including Christians of various traditions, oppose it.

I empathize with supporters of executions, especially the families of victims. I do not feel particularly sorry for those executed since they have usually committed horrendous murders. I would probably want revenge, too. The desire for revenge is a very natural human emotion. But, that is the point. The only valid reason for capital punishment is revenge and that degrades us all as a culture. If the goal is justice, there are better ways to do it.

There are many more reasons to abolish it than to retain it. First, executions create two grieving families. Second, there have been people wrongly executed. You can let the innocent out of prison but you cannot bring them back to life. Third, justice is not yet equal in the USA. Most of those on death row are poor and had public defenders and/or are members of minorities.

Some say they do not want to support a murderer in prison but it has been shown that it is cheaper to imprison someone for life than to execute them. Some think we need the death penalty to protect society but we now have very secure prisons to protect us. Mr. Demakowski thinks capital punishment is a deterrent to violent crime but the best studies show that it really is not.

Finally, a death sentence gives a killer too much media attention. Would it not be better if predatory murderers just anonymously disappeared into prison and our attention was focused on the survivors?