A vote for the death penalty

A local lawyer, a frenemy, told me he had written a book about the death penalty, and asked if I would read it. 

It was anti-death penalty, a dozen essays opposing the penalty rather than a book with a singular narrative thread.

I told him I would read it if he had a single argument that I had already not heard. He could not do that and he got angry.

Because I support the death penalty and have been defending it for decades, I have heard every argument against it — from sometimes innocent people being convicted, to discrimination against the poor and nonwhite.

These are serious flaws, but not fatal flaws, if you will forgive the word play. They can be fixed. 

Serious people can have honest disagreements about giving the state the power of life and death. 

I am not for imposing the death penalty willy-nilly. As someone once said about abortion, it ought to be safe, legal, and rare. Well, maybe not “safe.” Let’s say “pain free.”

 It must be reserved for the worst of the worst, starting with child killers. 

I am not going to list all the reasons for keeping the death penalty. I am going to present just one, taken from the headlines earlier this week.

Robert Aaron Long. 

Chances are you don’t know his name, but you do know his deed.

He’s the 22-year-old monster, supposedly a porn and prostituion addict, who murdered eight people in Atlanta-area spas on March 16.

Earlier this week — to avoid the death penalty — he accepted sentence to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. He faces another four murder charges in another county, where the prosecutor says she wants the death penalty.

As you know, many death penalty opponents claim that life in prison is worse than death. Not for Robert Aaron Long.

And not for almost every convict given the option. Life behind bars means free meals and lodging, television, books, magazines, gym facilities and sometimes even computer access.

The prosecutor in Cherokee County made the deal with Long, and the victims’ families approved. If it’s OK with them, it’s OK with me, although it does leave Long free to kill again, within the walls of the prison.

By accepting the plea deal, the families didn’t have to be subjected to a long, emotional trial, and the taxpayers didn’t have to pay for it. 

The threat of the death penalty is a bargaining chip prosecutors can use to get a quick admission of guilt, and a sentence agreed to by all sides.

Without the death penalty, the accused might as well roll the dice at trial, because the worst they can get is life.

Capital punishment is a divisive issue, with polling going up and down with the times. A small majority of 55% approve of it now, but I expect it to rise along with the murder rate.