By J.R Labbe, KERA Commentator
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-656117.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Should society exact the ultimate punishment from those who break its rules most heinously? The majority of Texans have little trouble in answering a resounding yes to that question.
The pace at which the Lone Star State carries out capital punishment bolsters the cries of barbarity by death penalty opponents everywhere.
So be it. The majority of us go about our days knowing justice is being served.
In the ordered society in which we choose to live, we operate by a code of conduct. It's not something held in secret that people only find out about by trial and error. Our society that says if a jury of your peers determines that you've violated our code, you forfeit your right to freedom. And in some cases, the violation is so reprehensible that the consequence is the ultimate: You forfeit your right to live.
Legitimate questions are being asked about the concoction of deadly drugs used and how they are administered in some states. The Supreme Court is expected to provide the answers to those specific issues next year. But the overall question of whether capital punishment represents cruel and unusual punishment has been settled.
Capital punishment is not about vengeance -it is about justice. And that includes determining appropriate punishment. The death penalty is our society's just and symmetrical response to the premeditated act of murder.
People talk about prevention, rehabilitation and reform. I'm all for using every means we can to plant the seeds of civility in every child. But I'm also in favor of planting the seeds of personal responsibility. Sadly, they don't find fertile ground in every case.
It is a sobering reality that certain people should never be allowed to mingle with the rest of us.
The function of law enforcement and the criminal justice system is to respond to crime after it occurs and to hold people responsible for their actions.
If juries were convinced that a life sentence meant that a convicted killer would never again walk free, then fewer death sentences would be meted out. But there are too many stories of offenders who get out only to commit additional violent crimes. In states where juries are not given the option of life without parole, the death penalty is the sure way of guaranteeing that society's worst won't cause future heartaches.
For many Americans with strong religious beliefs, the question is whether the state should execute a person who has come to know God and has repented of his or her sins.
Repentance may save their souls but has nothing to do with saving their lives.
Tried in a court of law and found guilty for their earthly actions, those deeds are why they are executed. Their faith in eternal salvation is between them and their God.
Jill "J.R." Labbe is deputy editorial page editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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