Need To Review Death Penalty
If you are going to have a death penalty law, it’s probably a good idea to debate that law from time to time. In Connecticut, the time is now.
Back in the mid-1980s, a superior court judge presiding over a capital felony case in Norwich proclaimed from the bench that Connecticut “has a death penalty in name only.” The quote was widely reported and led to some debate. The judge said he did not mean to make a political statement but was frustrated by a law that seemed to be written to give every protection to the accused to the point of creating a meaningless law. At that time, no Connecticut prosecutor had been able to secure a death penalty sentence in a capital case.
More than 20 years later, the judge’s comments still ring true. Yes, Connecticut has several inmates on death row, but only one — Michael Bruce Ross — has been executed during the past two decades. He was put to death only after he dropped all his appeals and actively argued for his own execution.
If you go back to the enactment of the current statute, you will find it was a compromise between tough-on-crime lawmakers who wanted a death penalty and more liberal lawmakers who wanted to craft a bill that would make an execution impossible to achieve. Since passage, both sides have been able to claim victory. Conservatives can declare the most heinous murderers will receive the ultimate punishment, and opponents can smile a knowing smile.
Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars are spent on legal fees to prosecute the cases and fund the public defenders who often represent the accused. After the trials come years of appeals, with taxpayers funding lawyers and expert witnesses for both sides.
The law — as it stands — delivers a false promise of justice to the families of the victims. Far from delivering justice, the long wait for a final conclusion is nothing more than added suffering. It is cruel and unusual punishment.
With new statistics showing the number of executions declining nationwide and with New Jersey recently taking its capital punishment law off the books, Connecticut has reason to review its own history with the death penalty to decide whether it’s more honest to make life in prison our most severe punishment.
The death penalty is not a deterrent to other killers. Each new murder is the best evidence against that argument. How can Connecticut’s death penalty ever be seen as a deterrent, when even death row inmates know their chances of execution are about the same as their chance of winning the lottery?
Hardliners will argue the killing of a murderer means at least one person will never kill again. When was the last time a Connecticut death row inmate killed another inmate, or even had a chance to?
Finally, there is the eye-for-an-eye argument. You reap what you sow. In Connecticut, that is simply not the case. Recent history shows there is no link between being handed a death sentence and meeting the executioner.
From time to time there is a poll on the death penalty. Predictably, those asked say they favor a death sentence for those who commit the most serious crimes. Theoretically, it is easy to take that position. A tougher poll question would be: At Connecticut’s next execution, would you be willing to pull the trigger, throw the switch, inject the needle? That question needs to be answered because when a prisoner is executed by the state, his life is taken on behalf of us all.
Connecticut’s death penalty law is a fraud. Let’s be honest with ourselves and the survivors of homicide victims by repealing it.
Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
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