Is the Death Penalty Conservative?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

My reverence for life is as unshakable as any conservative who "believes with perfect faith" that life begins at conception.

But what about death?

How can I fight for the sanctity of life while I condone the premature death of even the most evil among us?

While I may be part of a small minority in our Republican Party, I, too, "believe with perfect faith" that there is a blanket of life which ought to surround all human beings from conception to a natural conclusion. This means that just as I oppose the killing of the unborn, I must also oppose the killing of those already born when society takes revenge in the form of a death penalty.

Yet, as a conservative and constitutional originalist, I do not base my opposition to death upon religion alone. It would be just as wrong to establish my religious beliefs as the "law of the land" as it would be to forbid the free exercise of those whose religion differs from mine.

No, my opposition to death is based on more practical conservative principles.

I believe in law and order. The most heinous crimes deserve the toughest penalties. And the death penalty is not nearly as punishing as a life condemned to a cramped concrete cell 20 hours per day.

Capital crimes are committed by persons who believe that their lives are superior to those of the ones they kill. The murderer sacrifices his victim so that he can receive benefit from that death. It is a grossly exaggerated concept of self-worth that drives the evil of murder.

Yet those sentenced to death are given our attention for years after their trials are concluded. We give them appeals through the state court system, only to begin again with writs of habeas corpus to the federal bench. We segregate them on "death row" with special treatment in honor of their state of condemnation.

And then, if the criminal makes it to the death chamber, we hold vigils outside the prison. The prisoner is honored with a "last meal"; and we make sure that his death is as peaceful for him as it was torturous for his victim.

Those who commit evil ought not be honored with recognition. They need to be rendered obscure and irrelevant. Each day of their lives needs to be long, boring and as robbed of purpose as the victim was robbed of his purpose in life.

Moreover, the life of a murderer must be as arduous for him as it will continue to be for the family of the victim. The capital criminal must know that he will never again celebrate a Christmas or a birthday with those who love him, regardless of whether he loves anyone.

Life in prison without the possibility of parole means that for a capital criminal, life until the natural end of his days must be more heinous than the peace that painless injection brings to an evil mind. The criminal should not be given an easy way out. He should be forced every day to contemplate his actions and ask for forgiveness from his victim and his God.

I have always been fascinated with the concept of "purgatory," that place between death and final judgment where sins are fully exposed and divine forgiveness is finally decided. I believe that serving in prison at hard labor, kept away from the surrounding world, forms a purgatory on Earth. It is where a capital criminal is left destitute with only one way to escape certain hell, that being a lifetime of repentance in living conditions that make him as small as the acts he committed.

Most of the time, life is a gift as wonderful as the potential for good that is the prognosis of those conceived but unborn. Yet it can also be a punishing burden for a murderer wallowing in the hopelessness and humiliation of prison stench.

Death, either by abortion or lethal injection, serves little, if any purpose to promote the good of society. Yet in both cases, life has its purpose.

For conservatives who recognize the "blanket of life," we must acknowledge both ends of the cloth.

Robert M. Levy is chairman of the Moore County Republican Party. Contact him at Law52@prodigy.net.

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The_AnonymusProfit 6 months ago

I think conservatives has a lot more to think about right now then the death penalty.

dustyrhoades 6 months ago

Interesting take, Mr. Levy, and quite right.

dudleysharp 6 months ago

LIFE: MUCH PREFERRED OVER EXECUTION: 99.7% of murderers tells us "Give me life, not execution" Dudley Sharp

Since 1973, there have been about 50,000 murderers (1) who may have qualified for the death penalty, based upon post Furman laws.

As of 2012, only 0.3% of those volunteered for execution and were executed.

The rest, 99.7%, have fought for life and against the death penalty/execution, using plea bargains, trials, appeals and commutation, in any fashion possible to avoid death.

No surprise. Death is feared more than life. Life is preferred over death, not just with murderers, but with all of us, save for the determined suicidal.

That's a fact based review of which sanction murderers find to be more severe and is just one example of why executions are found to deter more than life (2).

FOOTNOTES:

1) a) As of 2012, there have been about 8300 sent to death row since 1973. Of those, about 140, or 1.7%, have "volunteered" for execution. So far, 98.3% of those sent to death row prefer life over execution.

b)  Only about 1/3 of all death penalty cases that go to trial end with a death sentence; 2/3 of the defendants received sentences less than death, as they wanted.  Total, that is about 25, 200 cases.

c)  Even more death penalty eligible cases, an additional 24,800 or so, are  otherwise,  given sentences less than death, as they wished.

Of the 50,000 eligible cases, only about 140 "volunteered" for execution.

99.7% chose life.

NOTE: I estimate that about 10% of all murders (that being 700, 000, post Furman, 1973-2012) are death penalty eligible, or about 70, 000 murders. I reduced that to 50,000 murderers, based upon some cases of multiple capital murders per murderer.

Some estimate the percentage of capital murders to be as high as 15-20%, as a percentage of all murders., which would mean it much less likely they prefer death over life, than my review shows.

(2) See deterrence reviews:

The Death Penalty: Saving More Innocent Lives http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/03/death-penalty-saving-more-innocent.html

Innocents More At Risk Without Death Penalty http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/03/innocents-more-at-risk-without-death.html

nothingspecial 6 months ago

So well said Mr. Levy, thank you

dudleysharp 6 months ago

Mr. Levy has reversed both reason and fact.

Biblically, the foundation of the death penalty is based upon reverence of life, that the taking of life, by murder, is so foul, that the murderer has sacrificed their right to life.

We do not put murderers on death row because of some "special treatment in honor" of their state of condemnation. We put them on death row as a dishonor and also because it is enhanced security based upon them having nothing to lose by harming, again.

You would provide those murderers with, exactly, what they wish, an end to the death penalty.

By leaving those murderers alive, as you wish, you are putting more innocents at risk, thus betraying your point - reverence for life. Living murderers are, infinitely, more likely to harm and murder, again, than are executed murderers.

No, "WE" don't "hold vigils outside the prison" for death row murderers. An extremely small percentage of the population, possibly as many as 0.0001% actually hold vigils for such murderers. The overwhelming majority of "WE" do not stand with them.

Mr. Levy, you would honor those who hold such vigils for murderers, by giving them what they want, what you have already conceded, to do away with the death penalty.

Honor the victims instead, by reviewing their cases, using their names and what their lives could have been. Vigil for them!

95% of murder victim survivors support the death penalty (1). All you wish to do, Mr. Levy, is to harm them, even more, by removing a sanction, which they support.

Last meals should be done away with, not the death penalty.

There is a constitutional amendment, the 8th, which speaks against the cruelty of punishments. The humaneness of execution is solely based upon keeping within its requirements, just as prison conditions for lifers and all others are.

Murderers are only recognized and celebrated by a very small percentage of those who oppose the death penalty, some in the media and some in the public.

Again, Mr. Levy would reward that bad behavior with exactly what they want, an end to the death penalty.

contd

dudleysharp 6 months ago

contd

Mr. Levy writes:

"The capital criminal must know that he will never again celebrate a Christmas or a birthday with those who love him, regardless of whether he loves anyone."

Odd. Only death can make that happen. Ask the family of the murder victims.

A life sentence allows for the murderer to enjoy letters, cards, presents, often recreation, sometimes marriage and conjugal visits. It also allows for a hope of sometime being free, as both the legislature, as well as the Governor can free those criminals serving life without parole.

Victim survivors get to visit gravestones.

Mr. Levy seems to not understand that many criminals are sociopaths and that their memories of the crime and the victims are a joyous reflection of the harm they have caused. For some criminals on death rows, they are heroes for murdering police.

The death penalty, as all criminal sanctions, provides justice for some crimes. Is there a greater human concept that justice? If you think about it - unlikely.

Justice is what Mr. Levy wishes to end and limit.

Mr. Levy, you are speaking of a cloth, well eaten by moths, providing very little cover and little reason.

(1) US Death Penalty Support at 80%; World Support Remains High http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/04/us-death-penalty-support-at-80-world.html

clarabelle 6 months ago

"Life in prison without the possibility of parole means that for a capital criminal, life until the natural end of his days must be more heinous than the peace that painless injection brings to an evil mind. The criminal should not be given an easy way out. He should be forced every day to contemplate his actions and ask for forgiveness from his victim and his God."

damn ........... i shook for several hours trying to type this ........ but - finally a column from levy that makes sense!