So THAT'S who the death panels are

<< Obama, the Angel of Death?

I read David Grann’s brilliant article in the New Yorker two days ago, and found myself unreasonably elated by this jack-up of the judiciary, this inferno of injustice, which led to the death penalty for a man who did not commit a crime.

Not only was he wrongly convicted, there turned out to be no crime committed in the first place! Which was reported to the authorities, and they killed him anyway.

Now don’t accuse me of being a bloodsucker just yet.

I recognize that justice has been going horribly wrong for hundreds of years, back to Hammurabi, and probably before, but never have we so arrogantly defended our practices, even though America is the only country in the Western developed world to cling to the death penalty. But has it ever been placed in such stark relief?

This is not a morality debate. No dithering over whether we have more right to judge mankind than the heavens. Or where the line sits, whether it’s an age, an IQ, or a body count.

It’s about a system. A system designed to fundamentally value the life of every person, and their right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Now the political system oftens fails to protect these values, but it is the job of the judiciary to tighten the bounds so they do so less. An innocent man being put to death for a crime never committed? That means there is fundamental flaw in the system.

The only rational defense of the death penalty in America until now has been that the system works in such a manner that if one is falsely accused, you will be exonerated before you are actually put to death. Justice Scalia, that bastion of upside-down morality, has said that even he cannot support any system that results in an innocent man being put to death. Whoops.

So what does this mean?

At worst, nothing will change. The world will heave a collective sigh of outrage and forget by next week.

But the fact remains, none of the other arguments in support of the death penalty stand up. It is not a deterrent against violent crime. It is far more expensive than life in prison. And none of us on Earth are qualified to make a moral judgment on the worth of someone’s life.

The legal system cannot and will not ignore such a systemic failure, no matter how acclimated we have become to being let down by our politicians and leaders.