COLUMN: Is capital punishment the answer?
The subject of capital punishment has been brought back into current events in South Dakota.
Ronald Johnson was killed during a failed prison escape on April 12, 2011. Johnson was a 23-year veteran of the South Dakota Department of Corrections and was assaulted by two inmates on his 63rd birthday.
By no means did Johnson deserve to be murdered by Eric Robert and Rodney Berget, but do they deserve capital punishment?
There are many arguments for capital punishment — the most substantive and reoccurring reasons are deterring crimes and providing closure to victim’s family. Many supporters of capital punishment insist people will not commit murder for fear of being killed themselves.
However, a September 2000 survey in The New York Times found that states without capital punishment had lower homicide rates than states with capital punishment. There wasn’t just a slight difference — evidence showed the rate to be 48-101 percent lower.
Eliminating career criminals is another argument used by supporters of capital punishment. There is no doubt society has some people who have earned the right to be publicly executed, such as serial killers.
On a smaller level, a criminal who has committed multiple crimes and taken more than one life probably deserves, for the safety of society, to be executed. However, if our society allows criminals to go in and out of the justice system for their entire lives, maybe they did not fail society — society failed them.
As I have never lost a family member at the hands of someone else, I do not fully know how victims’ family members feel. Maybe the death of perpetrators gives them some solace. It seems what the victims’ families really want is the return of their family member. Going through the grief process that follows death is always difficult, but I imagine knowing the loss was preventable makes it worse.
Opponents of capital punishment also have a case. Three of the strongest arguments for repealing capital punishment are the cost, the possibility of killing someone innocent and the message it sends.
Logic would say killing someone would cost less than keeping them alive for decades. Contrary to logic, costs of executing someone according to BalancedPolitics.org can be almost five times greater than a life sentence. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the cost of the actual lethal injections is only $86.08, but there are a lot of other costs that are incurred for death row inmates.
Currently, Donald Moeller has been sitting on death row in South Dakota for 21 years. Multiple, lengthy trials and additional security have cost about $1.5 million according to estimates by the Argus Leader.
As Moeller’s execution is still pending litigation, these cost are only expected to rise. Additional costs of death row can be seen nationally. In a June 2011 article, The Los Angeles Times estimates California spends $184 million a year on its 714 death row inmates.
Capital punishment sends a very confusing message. Fighting murder with executions is like instructing firefighters to battle blazes with fire. Furthermore, many countries view capital punishment as barbaric.
Of our strongest allies, Japan is the only other country outside the Middle East that has capital punishment. We liken ourselves to countries like Iran and North Korea by maintaining the practice of capital punishment.
There is a need and a place for capital punishment, but I also believe in the sanctity of human life. There are cases with no possibility of reform. In these cases, it is probably better for the safety of all of society to execute those people. But we shouldn’t execute people whom society has failed.
There needs to be general prison reform to limit the necessity of capital punishment. Our prisons don’t do enough to prevent criminals from recidivating.
If we could find ways to keep people from committing crimes, we wouldn’t have to spend so much money on keeping them in prisons and on death row. Until then, we will continue to maintain the expensive status quo.
I can’t say for sure if Robert and Berget failed society or if society failed them. Anyone who kills a corrections employee certainly merits capital punishment consideration, but I am left wondering if something could have been done sooner to prevent the criminal acts of Robert and Berget resulting in the death of Ronald Johnson. The death penalty obviously didn’t.
Reach columnist Blaine Reynolds at
