Capital Punishment is Vengeance - Not Justice

That makes it Evil and Immoral

This November, Oklahomans will be asked to determine whether and how the state will continue to execute those convicted of capital crimes. I’m pretty certain I know the outcome of State Question 776 prior to the election. So what do I say in this brief space and time, knowing the futility of reaching those who are predisposed to cling to our culture of state imposed death, killing, and execution? I’m not sure but bear with me. 

I thought I might try the economic angle for those who say they don’t wish to sustain the lives of those who commit capital crimes with their tax money. I thought, maybe they would be persuaded by the fact that it’s less costly to imprison people for life than to execute them because of the legal costs associated with death penalty convictions. But the truth is that there are many who would like to execute people regardless the cost and would actually love for government to kill people for lesser charges. These are the people who celebrate prison brutality, hoping inmates will kill each other, and seek to use the state to inflict all kinds of horrible brutality. So I won’t press this point any further. 

I thought I might try to use the ‘what would Jesus do’ approach. This approach would seem to be plausible given the number of Oklahomans who profess to be Christians. In 2015, Gallup found that Oklahoma was in the top ten of all states where people attend a church, mosque, temple or synagogue at least once a week. But upon deeper analysis, the dominant faiths in Oklahoma, heavily favor the death penalty. The Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination with over 1,800 churches in Oklahoma, actually passed a resolution in support of capital punishment. The National Association of Evangelicals supports the death penalty. 

While not a universal list, other Christian Denominations and religions that do not oppose capital punishment in some measure include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Buddhism, and some Shariahs of Islam. (No central authority exists in Islam.) 

There are several Christian denominations that oppose capital punishment. The Roman Catholic Church opposes capital punishment. Protestant denominations in opposition of capital punishment are the Presbyterian General Assemblies, Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association, Orthodox Church in America, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Other religions that oppose capital punishment are Reform Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly, Hinduism, and some Shariahs of Islam. 

Making moral or religious appeals is unlikely to make any progress in convincing people of the evils of capital punishment in Oklahoma because the most popular denominations openly support the state killing people found guilty of capital crimes. This is the prevailing view despite the fact that Jesus was himself a victim of wrongful execution. It’s ironic that most people going to churches in Oklahoma can read stories about King David and the Apostle Paul, paying homage to both, somehow ignoring that both were guilty of capital crimes. But I digress. 

So then I think maybe some would be shocked and dismayed at the racial disparities found in the application of capital punishment. Also the large number of times that DA’s and juries get it wrong and either execute or order the execution of people later found to be innocent. In looking at many cases, DA’s withhold evidence that actually exonerates those found guilty. According to the Innocence Project, they have used DNA evidence to exonerate 344 people. Of those, 61.6% were black, 30.5% were white, and 71% involved eye witness testimony. That’s a high error rate given the finality of the death penalty. 

And Oklahoma has had its share of difficulty when it comes to the death penalty. Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman, author of “Death and Justice,” catalogued the horrid misconduct of Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy and lab chemist Joyce Gilchrist. The “win at all costs” mentality was confronted by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which said, “Macy's persistent misconduct … has without doubt harmed the reputation of Oklahoma's criminal justice system and left the unenviable legacy of an indelibly tarnished legal career.”

And that’s not all. The Texas Forensic Science Commission studied the wrongful execution of Cameron Todd Willingham who lost his three children in a fire that he was falsely found guilty of committing. The DA in the case, John H. Jackson, agreed to reduce the sentence of a convicted felon in exchange for him testifying against Willingham. In 2004, the Texas Bar filed a charge of misconduct against Jackson. These kinds of things are littered throughout our entire justice system. Maybe we are getting to something more compelling here. If the justice system in America and Oklahoma cannot deliver less imperfect justice, it should not be issuing punishments of death to those convicted. 

Some make the argument that heinous crimes are an assault on those left behind. Families are torn apart by horrible violence and murder of a loved one. That’s certainly true. Some argue that it’s unfair to not give the family “justice” in prohibiting the state from executing those who killed their loved one. That’s a view held by many. 

But what if there’s proof that even after an execution of a convicted killer, the families of the victim still suffer despite media reports of “closure” for families of victims? An exploratory study performed by researchers from two states, one from Texas, (a state that leads the nation in executions) and another from Minnesota, (a state that has banned the death penalty.) Mark Umbreit, Ph.D., from the University of Minnesota and Marilyn Peterson Armour, Ph.D., of the University of Texas at Austin compared family survivors’ to see how they compared in “physical, psychological, and behavioral health.” Minnesota family survivors’ fared better. This runs counter to the “closure” argument offered by pro-death penalty advocates. In fact, some of the bereaved report the death penalty to be a psychological burden on survivors. 

Another study conducted by University of Minnesotta sociology-anthropology professor Scott Vollum found that post execution closure among victims’ families was dismal. According to the study, only 2.5% had closure and over 20% said the executions did not help them heal, leaving them with emotional emptiness. 

An article published in The Week by Lauren Kirchner explored two people, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons, a woman who watched 278 executions, and Houston area reporter Michael Graczyk, who witnessed over 300 executions while reporting for The Associated Press in Texas. In dealing with the psychological trauma associated with observing state executions, some develop a condition called dissociative disorder that requires treatment. And they certainly aren’t gaining “closure” in the loss of a loved one. 

And then let us consider the impact on those who observed the three botched executions by the state of Oklahoma which made national news. And who heard those being executed suffer in front of them and say things like Michael Lee Wilson did when he said, “I feel my whole body burning.” Witnessing death is traumatic. 

If we have such terrible results of closure among victims’ families and trauma among journalists and employees who participate in the execution as observer, why are we still enthusiastically having the state plan the date, time, place, and method of someone’s death, aka execution?  This is deserving of an answer. 

The death penalty isn’t about a desire to deliver justice. It’s about vengeance. Vengeance because of the horrific and psychologically painful loss suffered. Vengeance because people empathize (as they should) with the victim and their family. Vengeance, though, is not an acceptable standard and isn’t justice. 

What is justice then? Justice is restoration of the victims. Justice is using the state to separate the criminal from society for many, many years, perhaps life without parole. Justice is making a person confront the harm they have done. America needs less vengeance and more justice.

In closing, those who are of a Christian tradition would do well to remember Romans 12 verses 18 through 20: 

18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Amen.