Take Our Word For It

We at the Blasphemy Blog have seen with our own eyes that the death penalty is not fair. It's racist and it's classist. It becomes disgustingly political, and too many prosecutors use it to advance their careers. And they use it dishonestly, playing on the worst of human prejudice in order to get expedient verdicts. The Supreme Court's recognition of this simple fact ought to be applauded.

We freely admit that, even if the death were "cleaned up," we would still oppose it. We're just that kind of always-believes-in-redemption kind of people here at the Blasphemy Blog.

But our point is that we as a nation are not even ready to have that conversation. Our death penalty is not clean and never has been clean, not even a little bit. In the United States, we don't even pretend that we execute only the most barbaric offenders. In the United States, we execute people who kill police, black people who kill white people, and people unlucky enough to be both poor and mentally ill. That is who sits on the death rows of the United States.

Now, many of these offenders are guilty of truly heinous crimes. But a lot of them are not. And a lot of people who are guilty of truly heinous crimes are not even considered for the death penalty. As currently practiced, the death penalty is arbitrary.

So, let's get rid of this arbitrary thing. Then, if we must, let's talk about bringing it back for the most evil, irredeemable serial killers. But only then.