Thursday, September 03, 2009
A New Think Tank for Compassion and Responsibility
In the electronic pages of today's New York Times I found the following gem. George W. Bush is starting a think tank. This organization will "promote policies and programs rooted in the core ideals of freedom, opportunity, responsibility and compassion."
The former Governor of Texas often talks about compassion. His actions belie his words. During the campaign for the presidency in 2000, the Texas Governor was questioned about his state's incredible efficiency in the use of the death penalty. Since 1976 the state of Texas has had 37.5% of all executions in the United States. The state of Texas by itself has had more executions than most nations. The only places on earth that execute more prisoners than the United States are The People's Republic of China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. After the U.S. is Pakistan and following Pakistan is everyone else.
The People's Republic of China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Great company to be in. What a gentleman's club. And yet it is our government, especially while occupied by the former Governor of Texas, that somehow finds the strength to finger-wag our fellow club members about human rights. We have the strength to do this because we use lethal injection instead of beheading. Beheading takes much more physical effort. We are, after all, largely flabby and out of shape.
During the election of 2000 the death penalty was a hot topic. The Innocence Project had uncovered a number prisoners on death row who had not had fair trails, and several of these prisoners turned out to be innocent. When questioned about Texas' death row, Governor Bush stated that all prisoners on death row in Texas were guilty. A reporter suggested that prisoners undergo DNA tests to prove this once and for all. His response was to reiterate that they were all guilty, and that DNA tests were an unnecessary burden and expense. According to the former Governor of Texas DNA tests were too expensive.
State after state that has had studies commissioned on the relative cost of the death penalty has found that the death penalty costs ten to twenty times that of life imprisonment without parole. The added costs are in trials, appeals, and special high security housing of death row inmates.
Let me point out a fact to Mr. Think Tank. If someone is mistakenly executed, that's all, folks. If someone is imprisoned for life and it is later discovered that a flawed justice system made an error, you can let the guy go. That would be something called compassionate. It would also be called the responsible thing to do.
Let me further point out to Mr. Think Tank that in our time of financial need, death row costs the death penalty states a great deal of needed capital that could be better spent on its free, law abiding citizens. That would also be both compassionate and responsible.
This year in the United States there has been an average of one execution per week. Texas, as usual, leads all states in numbers of prisoners executed. It has been recently proven that at least two men executed in Texas were innocent. One of these two were executed while the former Governor of Texas was sitting in the Texas State House in Austin.
He ran on a law and order tough cowboy image to gain the governorship. He had no interest in proving innocence of anyone on Texas' death row because he believed it would have tarnished his image, and imperfection of the legal system is an uncomfortable subject. This is his idea of responsibility. The bottom line is the former Governor of Texas effectively had an innocent man put to death for political gain. This is his idea of compassion.
The former Governor of Texas often talks about compassion. His actions belie his words. During the campaign for the presidency in 2000, the Texas Governor was questioned about his state's incredible efficiency in the use of the death penalty. Since 1976 the state of Texas has had 37.5% of all executions in the United States. The state of Texas by itself has had more executions than most nations. The only places on earth that execute more prisoners than the United States are The People's Republic of China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. After the U.S. is Pakistan and following Pakistan is everyone else.
The People's Republic of China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Great company to be in. What a gentleman's club. And yet it is our government, especially while occupied by the former Governor of Texas, that somehow finds the strength to finger-wag our fellow club members about human rights. We have the strength to do this because we use lethal injection instead of beheading. Beheading takes much more physical effort. We are, after all, largely flabby and out of shape.
During the election of 2000 the death penalty was a hot topic. The Innocence Project had uncovered a number prisoners on death row who had not had fair trails, and several of these prisoners turned out to be innocent. When questioned about Texas' death row, Governor Bush stated that all prisoners on death row in Texas were guilty. A reporter suggested that prisoners undergo DNA tests to prove this once and for all. His response was to reiterate that they were all guilty, and that DNA tests were an unnecessary burden and expense. According to the former Governor of Texas DNA tests were too expensive.
State after state that has had studies commissioned on the relative cost of the death penalty has found that the death penalty costs ten to twenty times that of life imprisonment without parole. The added costs are in trials, appeals, and special high security housing of death row inmates.
Let me point out a fact to Mr. Think Tank. If someone is mistakenly executed, that's all, folks. If someone is imprisoned for life and it is later discovered that a flawed justice system made an error, you can let the guy go. That would be something called compassionate. It would also be called the responsible thing to do.
Let me further point out to Mr. Think Tank that in our time of financial need, death row costs the death penalty states a great deal of needed capital that could be better spent on its free, law abiding citizens. That would also be both compassionate and responsible.
This year in the United States there has been an average of one execution per week. Texas, as usual, leads all states in numbers of prisoners executed. It has been recently proven that at least two men executed in Texas were innocent. One of these two were executed while the former Governor of Texas was sitting in the Texas State House in Austin.
He ran on a law and order tough cowboy image to gain the governorship. He had no interest in proving innocence of anyone on Texas' death row because he believed it would have tarnished his image, and imperfection of the legal system is an uncomfortable subject. This is his idea of responsibility. The bottom line is the former Governor of Texas effectively had an innocent man put to death for political gain. This is his idea of compassion.
