Why the Death Penalty Is Wrong (4/6/05)
by Dean Hartwell
I first became interested in the issue of the death penalty at the age of twelve. President Reagan had just been shot and it appeared that his press secretary, James Brady, had been killed.
Outraged, I poured my emotions out in a letter to a religious radio program I listened to. I asked them whether the death penalty was Christian or not.
The producers of the radio program wrote me back. They included a pamphlet entitled, “Is Capital Punishment Christian?” I read it promptly.
In the pamphlet, the authors stated that the Bible proves that God not only favors the death penalty, but has also used it on people. They cited the Biblical flood as proof of God’s punishment for people who disobey Him.
The pamphlet also attacked liberals as being “out in left field.” It criticized those who protested the execution of Caryl Chessman in 1960. It seems as if these protestors had quoted the Bible as saying, “Thou shalt not kill.” It also insisted the penalty be carried out to honor the victims of the crimes.
Deep inside me, I sensed something was not right. However, since no executions were taking place in my state of California, I did not investigate it further.
A few years later, in high school, I argued against the death penalty with some of my classmates. I didn’t care about the details of whether it actually deters crime or saves money. What prompted me to take my position was my classmates’ insinuation that people who opposed the death penalty had no morals, an argument that I rejected.
Years passed and the State of California in 1990 stood on the verge of its first execution in nearly 25 years. Robert Alton Harris narrowly avoided the gas chamber with a late appeal.
By that time, I had done some research. I read former Governor Pat Brown’s book, Public Justice, Private Mercy. In that book, Brown acknowledged regret at presiding over several executions during his eight years as governor.
I also read in the book where Caryl Chessman was never accused of murdering anyone. He instead was sentenced to death for violating the “Little Lindbergh” statute for kidnapping women and causing physical harm to them.
By the time the state of California put Harris to death two years later, I knew I opposed the death penalty and could articulate my reasons. I gave a speech to classmates detailing my opposition based on lack of deterrence, cost and the possibility of innocence. In another class, I raised my hand to indicate opposition to Harris’ execution.
For the next California execution, of David Mason in 1993, I attended a vigil near the federal building in Westwood. There I sat down next to and talked to a woman whose daughter had been murdered. She tearfully told me that she did not want her daughter’s murderer executed.
Years (and many executions) later, I still think about that pamphlet. Though it had an influence upon me, my experiences since then have outweighed it. The death penalty may or may not be Christian, but most certainly it is wrong.