January 20, 2003
EDITORIAL:
Capital punishment in Texas: Seek comprehensive justice
___Horrendous crime shocks us to the core, and we demand justice. You know the cases--a friendly, upright young woman raped and murdered; a child fatally abused; a kindly senior citizen mortally bludgeoned; a hard-working father shot dead simply for crossing the wrong intersection at the wrong time. We see these stories every week. They offend every atom of our beings, and we demand justice.
___When murderers shed innocent blood, moral alarms sound in our hearts and heads. We instinctively feel such slaughter should be avenged. The more heinous and grisly the murder, the louder the alarm sounds. We demand justice.
___Yet evidence reveals our nation's and our state's system for delivering ultimate justic
| Justice demands that murderers pay a high price for their crimes. It also demands that the citizens of Texas refrain from executing innocent people and that we administer punishment equitably. |
e--the death penalty--is anything but just.
___The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission has completed a long-term study of c
apital punishment and called for a moratorium on the death penalty in Texas. Commissioners also have asked the Texas Legislature to pass a law that would allow juries to sentence murderers to life in prison without parole. (See page 2.)
___The commission didn't come to its conclusion quickly or lightly. Commissioners carefully reviewed capital punishment for more than two years after seriously discussing the issue for several years previously. They examined the Bible, particularly exploring the example of Jesus. They studied Christian history and looked at the church's view of the death penalty through 2,000 years. They researched the sociological, judicial and ethical implications of capital punishment. They focused on how the death penalty has been implemented in Texas. They pored over the traditional justifications for capital punishment. They visited wardens and prison chaplains. They toured the death house in Huntsville. Some of them changed their minds.
___The commission came to three primary conclusions: (1) "Biblical teaching does not support capital punishment as it is practiced in contemporary society." (2) "The legacy of capital punishment as it has been practiced throughout the history of the western church ... is tragic (in) that the church became intractably enmeshed in a nexus of violence which was foreign to the high calling of Christian discipleship." (3) "The practice of capital punishment in our nation and state is an affront to biblical justice, both in terms of its impact on the marginalized in society and in terms of simple fairness."
___The commission's report, conclusions and recommendations are sure to be controversial. Surveys show Texas--which performed 33 of the nation's 71 executions last year--strongly supports capital punishment. This very likely is true for Texas Baptists as well as our neighbors. However, Texas Baptists and others who wish to respond to the report first should read it carefully and prayerfully. (The report is located on the Standard's website, www.baptiststandard.com.)
___The commission's call for a moratorium on executions and passage of the life-without-parole sentencing option should be affirmed by all who demand justice from our criminal justice system. The moratorium not only has been advocated by death-penalty opponents, but also others who support capital punishment in principle. For example, some prosecutors and law enforcement officials recognize the current system is severely flawed and favor a moratorium to allow time to fix the problems.
___Many arguments can be made for a moratorium and life-without-parole. Three stand out:
___First, justice demands murderers pay a high price for their crimes. A sentence that condemns a person to live every single day of life in prison is a high price. Of course, the human impulse is to seek retribution, "an eye for an eye." We all understand that sentiment, and most people feel it when we learn about murder. Ironically, the severity of life imprisonment with no hope of parole increases the longer the murderer lives.
___Second, justice demands that the citizens of Texas refrain from executing innocent people. It also mandates that we administer punishment equitably. This is a notable failure of the criminal justice system. As science more finely examines evidence, we're learning that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have been convicted wrongfully. The Innocence Project at the Cardozo School of Law has determined at least 63 people have been exonerated through DNA testing. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, more than 100 death-row inmates have been acquitted after first being sentenced to execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
___Moreover, the commission's report reveals race is a significant factor in the assignment of capital punishment. A U.S. General Accounting Office inquiry shows "a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty." In Kentucky, more than 1,000 African-Americans have been murdered since the death penalty was resumed, but all death-row inmates had a white victim. Ninety-six percent of race-related studies in death-penalty states reveal "patterns of race-of-victim and/or race-of-defendant discrimination." The American Bar Association has called for a capital punishment moratorium until the issue of racial injustice in sentencing can be addressed.
___In the aftermath of heinous crime, we demand justice. But justice is not served if we execute innocent people and punish criminals of one race disproportionately to others.
___Third, the commission's proposal offers hope for the wonderful Christian promise of redemption--both for families of victims and for offenders. The report describes victim-offender mediation programs that work out restitution agreements and "allow victims to meet many of their needs while holding offenders directly accountable." Execution won't bring victims' loved ones back, but many are finding that mediation and accountability offer some measure of spiritual healing. In addition, chaplaincy and prison ministry programs offer convicted murderers the opportunity to give their lives and souls to Jesus Christ as Savior. Even if, in our pain, we wish the offenders were mortally punished, we know Christ desires that all people come to him in faith.
___The commission's report calls on Texans to find a solution that "values obedience and condemns sin" but also "reveres life." This is the path to justice.
--Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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Texas CLC calls for death penalty moratorium
