[PEN-L:3905] Re: death penalty for racist beast

[Ken Hanly <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Why should one feel queasy about not killing King? I don't think my opposition to
the death
penalty is entirely principled. I just don't think there is evidence that it has
any significant effect on murder rates. It is not a deterrent. If it were a
significant deterrent I might very
well reconsider my position. However, as it exists in the US the death penalty
shows obvious
signs of being racist. If there were no death penalty King would live but so
would 123 blacks.
P.S. As for retribution, certainly the lex talionis and Kant's views make no
sense to me. However the general idea that criminals should suffer deprivation
for criminal activity makes
sense as assuring  non-criminals that crime does not "pay". This doesnt entail
taking criminals' lives. All of this ignores the social context of crime and
capitalism as a cause
of crime as well all of which should make the death penalty an abomination. Marx
opposed
the death penalty of course, unlike his "disciples" in the USSR.
    Cheers, Ken Hanly

Jim Devine wrote:

> SLATE reports today: USA TODAY> describes [John William] King upon his
> condemnation as "unrepentant and Smirking," and notes that he is the first
> white person to face execution for killing a black person in modern Texas
> history. The paper goes on to report that since the Supreme Court
> reinstated the death penalty in 1976, nationwide eight whites have been
> executed for killing blacks while 123 blacks have been put to death for
> killing whites. Presenting this statistic without also saying the total
> number of convictions of crimes of each  sort leaves the reader
> ill-equipped to determine what it really means. Also, the papers don't
> mention it, but this story should give pause to anyone who thinks the death
> penalty is a deterrent. The unspeakable crime took place in the state that
> leads the nation in executions. <
>
> is there anyone else out there who's feeling queasy because (1) if anyone
> does, John William King (and his yet-to-be-tried sidekicks) deserve the
> death penalty but (2) they have a principled opposition to the death penalty?
>
> Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx &
> http://clawww.lmu.edu/Faculty/JDevine/jdevine.html