The Death Penalty, Schwarzenegger and Court TV

[tflon]

On January 19th of this year Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger allowed the

first death sentence to be served in three years, and the first under

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. That is almost copied straight from a

news site (because honestly if I hadn’t, there’s no way I’d have been

able to spell Arnie’s name!)

Anyway, I recently caught an ad for a movie on Court TV called The

Exonerated. It’s based on true stories of several people who spent

years on death row for crimes they didn’t commit. The original version

was a play which inspired my interest in the subject of the death

penalty. I specifically remember one guy who spent something like 20

years on death row before finally being cleared.

Now before someone jumps all over me: I’m not saying that the guy who

was just executed in California was innocent. But does anyone think

it’s acceptable that even one innocent person could be executed? I

think it’s about time this country joins the rest of the civilized

world and adopts a more humane approach. For those of you still on the

fence on this issue, I’d check out this movie, because if it’s anything

like the play the personal stories will astound you. I think it airs on

January 27 (but check courttv.com just in case I’m wrong). And if you

have thoughts on this issue, I’d like to hear them.

[Guest eureka]

There is an article in today's Toronto Star about the imminent execution of a convicted serial rapist/killer in Connecticut: the first there for much longer than three years. It also mentions the event in California and gives figures on executions in the US. These have declined substantially in recent years as several states no longer have the death penalty and juries are more reluctant to impose it.

Of course, Texas accounts for a large share and Virginia is next but far behind Texas.

The USA is now the only industrialized nation to have the death penalty.