Monday, March 26, 2007

Another conservative newspaper opposes the death penalty

Yet another conservative newspaper in the United States has changed its mind about capital punishment. The Chicago Tribune, which has supported the death penalty since at least 1869, has now concluded what a growing number of people have; that it is completely arbitrary and capricious and inconsistent in its application.

The editors point to the fact that Gary Ridgway, the Green River killer, got life imprisonment for at least 48 women in Washington State (Ridgway may still be a person of interest in the disappearances of women in Vancouver and Edmonton as well), while another person was sentenced to death for killing one female in a botched robbery. Closer to the Windy City, death penalty prosecutions are ten times higher in the suburbs than in Cook County itself (where Chicago is seated).

It also points to multiple botched executions over the years, including one back in December in Florida that took 34 minutes and was so excruciating for the prisoner that Jeb Bush (brother of Dubya) imposed a moratorium on executions just before he left office. Moreover, given the choice between capital punishment and life without parole, a slight plurality of Americans -- 48 to 47 -- now favour the latter.

The Trib should be commended for its stand. It's not easy to admit when you're wrong but when you do and do so because of the principles involved, society is bettered as a result. Here's hoping others, including politicians, take heed of the rising voices against the death penalty and put the punishment out of the misery it causes once and for all.

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