It seems that capital punishment stands on death row, and
rightfully so.
Developments within the case of convicted murderer and rapist
Michael Morales are convincing enough to illustrate capital
punishment’s termination in the United States. Morales’
execution by lethal injection was postponed when the
anesthesiologists assisting with the execution refused to
participate, stating that the act would violate their medical
oath.
According to the Los Angeles Times, U.S. District Judge Jeremy
Fogel proposed modification of the lethal injection process because
executions in the past have not resulted in completely pain-free
deaths.
The case illuminated the fact that even lethal injection ““
the most frequently practiced method of execution due to its more
“humane” nature compared to other forms ““ still
exists amid procedural complications.
Execution is synonymous with murder, and the U.S. seems to be
one of the last to realize this.
The U.S. remains one of the few countries (including South Korea
and Japan) out of the world’s developed democracies that
still retains capital punishment as an institution for justice.
It is quite ironic that this is the same country proclaiming and
fighting for just government systems overseas. How potent can the
moral authority be if it stands on the same side of human
rights-violating countries regarding capital punishment?
Even South Korea is now jumping on the bandwagon toward
eliminating capital punishment. According to The Korea Times, the
South Korean Ministry of Justice recently declared plans to review
execution procedures and possibly implement life imprisonment
instead.
A similar moratorium in California was proposed in February
2005. Although it is currently inactive, the capital punishment
debate stirred by the Morales case shifted attention to the
bill.
The moratorium would review the effectiveness and procedural
integrity of the death penalty, stalling executions in California
until January 2009, according to the Web site for California
legislative information.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, no real
difference exists in the crime rates between states where the death
penalty has been abolished and where it’s in effect.
Permanent removal of criminals does not encourage a safer society,
nor does it deter future crimes.
Additionally, while great pain is inflicted upon victims and
their acquaintances and they deserve great empathy, execution is
still literally killing and thus is an illogical and contradictory
method of vindication.
Recent trends have witnessed moratoriums in states such as
Illinois and Maryland (though both have been reversed) and New
Jersey most recently, according to National Public Radio.
Continuing studies by Amnesty International have indicated bias
between race and socioeconomic status in the placing of prisoners
on death row, and DNA testing proved innocent in 2002 the 100th
person on death row.
With these findings, capital punishment continually seems to be
an antiquated method of justice in danger of elimination.
And with the recent failure to improve the system in the Morales
case, only time and history can prove whether someday the
U.S.’s archaic form of justice will expire.
E-mail Yoo at jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.