Yesterday, Brian Dorsey was executed for a crime he committed in 2006. By all accounts, during his time in prison, he became remorseful for his actions and was a "model prisoner," to the point that multiple corrections officers backed his petition for clemency.
In general, the media is painting him as the victim of a justice system that fails to recognize rehabilitation. I find this idea disgusting. Brian Dorsey, in a drug-induced stupor, murdered the people who gave him shelter. He brutally ended the life of a woman and her husband, and (allegedly) sexually assaulted her corpse. There is an argument that he had ineffective legal representation, but that doesn't negate the fact that he is guilty.
While I do believe that he could have been released or had his sentence converted to life in prison, and he could have potentially been a model citizen, this would have been a perversion of justice. Actions that someone takes after committing a barbaric act do not undo the damage that was done. Those two individuals are still dead, and he needed to face the ramifications for his actions.
Rehabilitation should not be an option for someone who committed crimes as depraved as he did. Quite frankly, a lethal injection was far less than what he deserved, given the horror he inflicted on others. If the punishment should fit the crime, then he was given far more leniency than was warranted.
While it apparently didn’t happen in this case, there are a number of examples of people who have gone to death row, been executed, then proven to have been innocent after all. That’s a huge reason for me as to why the death penalty should be done away with.
Yeah, this is why I don't agree with capital punishment. Sure, many victim's families will want the perp to die. That doesn't mean we as a society have to be a place where we grant the wishes of blood lust. It doesn't make the world a better place, just a bloodier place.
I’m not a fan of linking abortion to capital punishment. The two are different. I’m pro-choice and anti-death penalty.
Pro-life people justify it by the actions of the murderer are the reason for his death.
Since Jesus was about forgiveness. Seems like prison should be fine. Eye for an eye doesn’t mean you have to execute the person. I often see that quoted for the death penalty.
The difference is that I don’t think most pro-choice people think life is sacred. For myself, I believe the killing is primarily wrong due to the suffering it causes, and also due to preventing further joy in that person’s life.
Abortions don’t cause much, if any suffering, and the effects on future joy are ambiguous. I don’t think the available evidence in this framework supports banning abortions, which itself clearly does cause suffering.
In contrast, if you believe life is sacred, it’s very strange to then decide to defile or destroy this sacred thing for any reason. The sacred is not subject to this sort of cost and benefit analysis.