From TIME · Dominic Erdozain · · 1m 40s
The Toxic Vengeance of Capital Punishment
Why America's death penalty fuels cycles of revenge instead of justice.
In brief
Why America's death penalty fuels cycles of revenge instead of justice. The death penalty perpetuates vengeance rather than justice, as shown by historical and modern examples of its corrosive effects. Originally reported by TIME.
Vonnegut's warning
Kurt Vonnegut described revenge as a bad idea, noting america's deep hunger for vengeance.
“revenge is a bad idea”
Death penalty debate
A narrow majority of americans support both the death sentence and firing squad execution method.
“narrow majority of americans approve of both the sentence and the method of death-by-firing-squad”
Vengeance culture
A culture of vengeance tears at democracy's fabric, as seen in politics and media.
“a culture of vengeance tears at the fabric of democracy”
Terry Aladjem's class
Nearly all undergraduates in a 2000s class supported capital punishment, shocking the professor.
“those who supported the death penalty vastly outnumbered their opponents”
Vengeance and democracy
The death penalty is both problematic and a symptom of a wider democratic crisis.
“the death penalty is at once deeply problematic on its own and a symptom of a wider malaise”
Fulbright on vengeance
Senator Fulbright linked revenge to puritanism and the Salem witch trials.
“the puritan way of thinking injected an absolutist strand into american thought”
Benjamin Rush's insight
Rush saw criminals as humans, not monsters, and called execution a human sacrifice.
“an execution in a republic is like a human sacrifice in religion”
Beccaria's influence
Cesare Beccaria argued that the death penalty is barbaric and ineffective.
“the death penalty is sanctified barbarism”
Jefferson's reforms
Jefferson limited capital punishment to murder and treason, emphasizing mercy.
“let mercy be the character of the law-giver”
Clarence Darrow's plea
Darrow argued that death penalty makes violence a cycle rather than a solution.
“to punish murder with death is to make less serious the original offense”
Clinton's clemency
Clinton denied clemency for a brain-damaged man in 1992, showing political necessity.
“the real bill clinton is not for capital punishment”
Newsom's action
California governor Newsom commuted sentences for 548 death row inmates.
“governor gavin newsom wrote last week”
Jess Nichol's view
Jess Nichol, stepsister of Polly Klass, says death penalty fails to bring justice.
“we used to think that having a vengeful death penalty sentence is going to be what gave us justice”
The future
The future must reject vengeance to achieve true justice and human decency.
“i want to live in a world where i am well, and not haunted by the hungry ghost of vengeance”
The essence
The death penalty perpetuates vengeance rather than justice, as shown by historical and modern examples of its corrosive effects.
