You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘death penalty’ tag.
“The relatives of Emma Hill got what they so desperately wanted yesterday: to avoid mourning another lost loved one. Gov. Ted Strickland honored the wishes of family members of the slain Cincinnati woman by concurring with the Ohio Parole Board and sparing the life of her son, condemned killer Jeffrey D. Hill of Hamilton County. Hill, 44, was to be executed March 3 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville for murdering his 62-year-old mother. ” — The Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 13, 2009
I struggled with the death penalty for years. Should a person who tortures a child, dismembers an old lady, or kills a family be put to death? My gut said yes. But I could never figure out how an execution really put things right. I finally decided that it neither put things right, prevented further murders, or advanced us as a society. And I became a death penalty opponent.
So, as an opponent of the death penalty, I have no quarrel with Ohio Gov. Strickland’s decision to commute Jeffery Hill’s sentence. What I do have a problem with is taking the family’s wishes into consideration.
Michael Dukakis was asked during the 1988 presidential race this question: “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?”
Dukakis replied, “No, I don’t, and I think you know that I’ve opposed the death penalty during all of my life.”
Here’s what he should have said: “If it were up to me, I’d kick that son of a bitch to death, cut his body apart and feed it to my pigs. But that’s why laws were made. So that justice, not individual wishes, can prevail.”
And that’s the test that our courts, and our governors, should apply.
