By Judy Linkey Santa Monica
I was surprised that no one who responded to last weekend’s Q-Line about capital punishment alluded to the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” No person has the right to take the life of another person so who among us wants to be the one to administer the lethal injection? And to say the injection is humane is an oxymoron. The death penalty has not proven to be a deterrent, and putting an accused murderer to death is not going to bring back the victim.
Actually, I believe that languishing day after day in a prison cell for the rest of one’s life without the possibility of parole would be a worse punishment. There is also the possibility an innocent person might be put to death. Recently a man was released from prison after serving 26 years for a crime he did-n’t commit. Many countries have done away with the death penalty; it is time for the United States to do the same.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 30, 2008. Read the original PDF.