We must repeat it again and again. The death penalty is immoral. It is ineffective. It is expensive. It is cruel. It is laden with racism. It is full of mistakes. It is wrong. Nothing is made better by the government injecting someone with poison in our name. That is not justice.
As a reminder, 1 in 25 ppl on death row may be innocent. That's 4%. We would never allow planes to fly if they had a 4% chance of crashing. We would never allow a restaurant to serve food that had a 4% chance of killing ppl. It is immoral and inaccurate.
newsweek.com/one-25-execute…
newsweek.com/one-25-execute…
"In the past 25 years, it has become increasingly apparent that, while much of the country has evolved beyond the death penalty, the states that remain most committed to it are those that once practiced slavery."
Now this includes our federal government.
newyorker.com/books/second-r…
Now this includes our federal government.
newyorker.com/books/second-r…
Years ago, I wrote about how I believe no one should receive the death penalty, even those whose crimes I find to be the most morally abhorrent. And even if my own initial emotional response is different than what I know is right.
newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
What Daniel Lewis Lee did was horrific. There's no argument there. But it's less a question of what he did, than it is of what we should do in response. The victims' own family stood in opposition to the execution. The pretense of "justice for the victims' family" falls apart.
