Death Comes to Us All

And to some by court edict.  We've just begun a project in my forensic classes that involves researching cases of people who have been exonerated of various crimes through DNA evidence. As a prelude to the project this year, I asked students to write a brief paragraph explaining their opinion of the death penalty.  Some groaned about writing anything; others claimed they didn't have an opinion and wanted to know if they still had to write something.  And some just dived right in and let their thoughts coalesce into loops of ink and graphite.

As I was wandering around the room, one student looked up and asked, "Is it OK if I say they should spend about a year in jail and then be executed?  Is that too wishy-washy?"  I assured him it wasn't and asked why he thought that.  I already thought I knew the answer; from the title of the project, I guessed he wanted the year as a guard against injustice being done.  New evidence might emerge, after all.  But he replied, "I think they should be punished by spending a year in jail in case the atheists are right."  Who would think you could laugh about the death penalty?

As I read the essays, it became obvious that most students had really wrestled with the question and weren't just spouting received wisdom.  There were very few who were absolutists on the subject, and most were quite vehement about the level of evidence required and the nature of the crimes committed to impose the ultimate penalty.  Many mentioned the recent Newtown shootings and child sexual abuse as the kind of crimes that warranted such a sentence.  Others wanted absolutely incontrovertible evidence: DNA; video footage; at least five eyewitnesses.  In fact, for some students, the level of proof was so high, I doubt the death penalty would ever be imposed if they were jurors or judges.

Of the students who were in favor, many cited reasons such as expenses in maintaining prisoners in 'fancy facilities'.  They seemed to think that prison was similar to an extended stay in a Hyatt Regency hotel.  I think I may have to provide some passages from Grisham's 'The Innocent Man' or Damien Echols' 'Life After Death' to provide a realistic view of life in prison.  It may sound like I'm trying to sway opinions with that last comment, but I just want students to have all evidence in front of them before they make a judgement.  And sometimes that evidence is eye-opening, as in the case of the true expenses involved in trial/conviction and incarceration of those sentenced to die.

Considering that so many students (even those who really had no qualms about the imposition of the death penalty) were very specific about crimes that deserved the ultimate sentence, I wonder what they would think of this? 

Many countries in the world have abolished the death penalty, but you can see from this database which countries have executed people in the last year data was available (2010).  China led the way with 6,000 executions, but the United States was number 4 on the list.

What do I think?  Stay tuned after students complete the project.  Teachers can be cagey like that.