Death Penalty

Today has been a really gray, dreary day in Minnesota. The news tonight had a story on a current Supreme Court case being decided tomorrow. A group of Kentucky inmates on death row are saying that lethal injection deaths violate the 8th amendment because it is a cruel method of punishment. The 8th Amendment of our Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. I suppose at the time this amendment was written they were thinking of methods like chopping off one's head as they did in France, drawing and quartering, burning alive. Today they use lethal injection, electric chair, hanging, and firing squad as far as I can remember. These methods certainly sound far less cruel than the older methods but they all sound cruel. I personally am opposed to the death sentence. Taking a life is either wrong or it's not. Two wrongs don't make a right. An eye for an eye method of punishment is what they used in countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq. I'd like to think we are a little more humane here. So, in my mind, the question shouldn't be whether lethal injection violates the 8th amendment but whether the death penalty does. It will be interesting to see what the court decides.

I have 2 friends who have lost adult children to murder, they too do not believe in the death penalty. I am fortunate in never having lost a family member to a crime but I think I would still remain opposed to the death penalty. I prefer a true life sentence, no parole. No TV either. No creature comforts beyond clothing, warmth, food, and shelter. A life sentence would allow plenty of time to think about the life they took.

Today's photos are from my grandfather's album. Maybe these photos could be mounted on the walls of those serving on death row. Just looking at these severe women everyday would be punishment. OK, just joking. But the photos fit in with today's dreary weather and the sad topic of the death penalty.

Tomorrow is my birthday ;-) Happier post.