Delivering on a campaign promise, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman says he will allow prosecutors to seek capital punishment in certain murder cases, undoing a policy of his predecessor, George Gascón.
Just try a little empathy exercise: what if you were arrested for a heinous crime, that you know for certain you didn’t commit, but you don’t have an alibi and there’s enough evidence that points to you, that you end up being tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
You know that you didn’t commit the crime, but nobody else believes you or can properly make your case. In carrying out your sentence, the government is murdering an innocent person who was wronged by the justice system. If you had been sentenced to life in prison, there’s a good chance some new facts might have come to light and exonerated you. This happens all the time.
Why does the government get to kill people, when killing people is one of our worst crimes? To me, the death penalty is state-sanctioned revenge. It’s the government saying it’s entitled to commit an awful crime, in order to punish an awful crime. Sometimes it’s committing the very same crime the person was sentenced for. That logic has always been completely confounding to me.
Still curious what’s wrong with the death penalty?
Just try a little empathy exercise: what if you were arrested for a heinous crime, that you know for certain you didn’t commit, but you don’t have an alibi and there’s enough evidence that points to you, that you end up being tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
You know that you didn’t commit the crime, but nobody else believes you or can properly make your case. In carrying out your sentence, the government is murdering an innocent person who was wronged by the justice system. If you had been sentenced to life in prison, there’s a good chance some new facts might have come to light and exonerated you. This happens all the time.
Why does the government get to kill people, when killing people is one of our worst crimes? To me, the death penalty is state-sanctioned revenge. It’s the government saying it’s entitled to commit an awful crime, in order to punish an awful crime. Sometimes it’s committing the very same crime the person was sentenced for. That logic has always been completely confounding to me.
Still curious what’s wrong with the death penalty?
I simply don’t agree that the government should be allowed to murder.
Yup, that’s what it all boils down to.