For years I had been a supporter of the death penalty. Later, a switch flicked in my head and my views did a 360 as more and more DNA evidence began to illuminate the high number of wrongly convicted individuals languishing in prisons and on death row. That reversal was further compounded by the grotesque display of prosecutors and courts denying or fighting DNA testing for many inmates. Something to hide, perhaps? That – and I began to wear a tinfoil hat full-time. I don’t really care if someone feels they’ve been rehabilitated or redeemed themselves, because that isn’t the point.
An essay I wrote last year spells it out better than I can say in a few words here:
https://jameslandrith.com/content/view/86/44/
In short, my view is that government is fallible and corrupt – up to its gills. Therefore, government cannot be trusted to only convict or execute the guilty. Languishing in prison as an innocent person is bad enough, but there is still hope for release – however feeble, improbable or non-comforting that may be to the individual enduring confinement. After an execution, however, an “oops, my bad” is about all that can be expected from the folks giving the orders to throw the switch or stick the needle.
As Chuck D once rapped, “can’t trust it.” And I don’t.
This entry also posted to Yahoo! Groups – SciFiNoir_Lit.