Marisa Seril
PSCI 1400
The American
Political System
February 24, 2003
Reforming a Broken Policy
Ever since 1977, when capital punishment was reinstated in the state of Illinois, several politicians and members of the Supreme Court questioned the consistency, accuracy, and proportionality of those who were put to death for their alleged crimes. In the meantime, however, the question of whether or not innocent lives hung in the balance remained as an unsettling problem. While politicians and people of high-standing authority apparently tip-toed around the opinions of the majority, those who were supposedly falsely-accused of vicious murders were forced to remain behind bars, with nothing more to do but wait for their turn to be executed. As of Jan. 31, 2000, however, Governor George Ryan of Illinois finally risked stepping up to the plate, by declaring that the Illinois capital punishment system, one of which he helped to erect, should be temporarily halted and reformed in order to insure the utmost efficiency and accuracy, for the sake of those prisoners who may have been falsely accused.
On January 10, 2003, Governor George Ryan pardoned the death sentences as well as the prison sentences of prisoners such as Leroy Orange, Stanley Howard, Madison Hobley, and Aaron Patterson, stating that “the system has failed for all four men and it has failed for all of the people of this state” (‘A Manifest Injustice Has Occurred’). Governor Ryan claims that these prisoners pleaded guilty only because they were tortured throughout their interrogation by Jon Burge, a Chicago Police official. Due to Burge’s alleged torturing of prisoners, Orange, Howard, Hobley, and Patterson organized the “Burge-10,” in order to rally against Burge’s supposedly harsh method of questioning (Flock).
Jeff Flock, author of CNN.com’s article ‘A Manifest Injustice Has Occurred,’ gives quick background information on the criminals of whom Governor Ryan pardoned from imprisonment. According to Flock, Aaron Patterson was initially imprisoned for the alleged murder of two Chicago citizens in 1986. Madison Hobley, on the other hand, was initially given the death sentence for supposedly murdering seven people in 1987. Leroy Orange was sentenced due to allegedly killing his girlfriend and her family, and Stanley Howard was sentenced for supposedly murdering someone in 1987 (Flock). According to CNN.com’s article ‘Blanket Commutation,’ it is stated that Commander Jon Burge “was fired after internal police investigators found systematic evidence of physical abuse of suspects.” This leads us back to the possibility of a faulty policy.
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. states that “for as Governor Ryan has pointed out, our experience has shown that no system of investigations and trials can be so perfectly free of human error or flawed evidence…as to guarantee innocent people will not be executed.” By this statement, it becomes apparent that politicians are beginning to look into America’s capital punishment system, scanning it for internal flaws, such as faulty human judgment. Ever since the capital punishment system was activated in Illinois in 1977, only 12 prisoners have actually been put to death, while 13 have been freed (Illinois Suspends Death Penalty, Governor Ryan’s speech). The numbers shown here may remain as an indication that America’s capital punishment system is flawed in its proportionality, with the possibility of the divisive forces of race and class status as the culprit.
According to Governor George Ryan’s speech to Northwestern University faculty and students, “The most glaring weakness is that no matter how efficient and fair the death penalty may seem in theory, in actual practice it is primarily inflicted upon the weak, the poor, the ignorant and against racial minorities.” Governor Ryan goes on to say that the majority of African American prisoners sentenced to death were found guilty by Caucasian-dominated juries. He also clearly states that due to the strong distinction between the number of African Americans versus Caucasian prisoners sentenced to death, our capital punishment system is a “terrible embarrassment.” Furthermore, Governor Ryan also points out in his speech that “seldom are people with money or prestige convicted of capital offenses, even more seldom are they executed.” Obviously, according to Governor Ryan at least, America’s capital punishment system needs to be reviewed due to its proportional flaws.
Due to the fact that “Ryan’s decision affects 156 inmates on death row in Illinois,” few politicians are disagreeing with the decision to reform America’s capital punishment system. Attorney Kevin Lyons states that Ryan seems to be “wiping his muddy shoes on the face of victims, using them as the doormat as he leaves his office” (‘Blanket Commutation’). From this statement, Lyons argues that the court system was meant to protect its victims. In other words, the court system’s job is to defend innocent victims by refraining from rescinding its legal judgment. He rightfully claims that the court system certainly has the legal and moral duty to follow through on its sentences for the sake of those who were sadly murdered.
According to Ollie Dodds, a murder victim’s mother, Governor Ryan’s decision to exonerate alleged murderers “brings back memories just like it happened” (Flock). Not only does Governor Ryan’s moratorium, which pardons four prisoners, serve as an attack on the closure of victim’s families, but it also demeans and underestimates the severity of the crimes themselves.
According to John Stuart Mill’s essay entitled “Speech In Favor of Capital Punishment,” Mills asks us if there’s any greater punishment than death for the sake of murder. The essay defends the capital punishment system by asking, “What comparison can there really be, in point of severity, between consigning a man to the short pang of a rapid death…debarred from all pleasant sights and sounds?” Death, Mills goes on to say, is justice in itself to those who have committed the act of killing another human being. However, it also remains true that Mills believes that in the case that “jurors refuse to find a murderer guilty; when Judges will not sentence him to death, or will recommend him mercy…then, indeed, it may become necessary to…abrogate the penalty” (Mill’s “‘Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment”). In short, even Mills agrees that capital punishment should be changed in the best judgment of the Court System.
Although many people stand in favor of the death penalty, others point out that its methods of execution are unnecessarily cruel and inhumane. The five methods of execution involve lethal injection, electrocution, gassing, hanging, and death by a firing squad. Lethal injection is by far the “easiest and least painful method of execution” (www.prodeathpenalty.com). However, another method called electrocution involves electrically shocking a victim until the victim’s internal organs are burned up. According to a website which actually supports the death penalty, “the body is likely to change color and the flesh may catch fire” (www.prodeathpenalty.com).
Additionally, those suffering under the death penalty may also be forced to suffer within the gas chamber, in which they would be strapped in a chair within “an air-tight chamber” and forced to inhale hydrocyanic gas. It is noted that the body must be “decontaminated” before it can be prepared for burial. Alternative methods include hanging, and also death by a firing squad, in which a team of professional gunners shoot the prisoner dead.
Although few are publicly disagreeing with Governor Ryan’s decision to reform the capital punishment issue, I personally believe that any type of killing is barbaric. To tell you the truth, I caught an accidental glimpse of what it looks like after a victim goes through electric shock (heaven forbid) by sifting through documents regarding the capital punishment system on the internet. The victim’s head was deformed in a swollen manner, and I am truly sorry, but I couldn’t even handle glancing at it. Death is not a funny thing. It’s also not something that mankind should be playing around with, for I believe that no one but God is the Ultimate Judge of our deeds.
I believe that Governor Ryan introduced the many problems of our capital punishment system in order for America to be re-awakened with the fundamental idea of equal justice. Due to the apparent flaws in the proportionality of our capital punishment, I believe that it is our duty as American citizens to reform legal policies if in fact a flaw is detected. I see no problem in having an experienced and well-educated staff look over our system to lessen its capability of error. Reviewing our capital punishment system would be for the sake of those innocent prisoners who may have been wrongly accused and put through the torture of being forced to wait for a painful death. In short, all of the fancy killing methods are sickening. If the death penalty must exist, then make it humane and painless.
Secondly, I honestly trust Governor Ryan’s decision, knowing from research that he is by no means a stranger to America’s capital punishment system, as Jesse Jackson Jr., a Congressman of the Second Congressional District of Illinois, also points out. According to Jackson, as of July 3, 2000, Governor Ryan “is by no means a maverick” (Governor Ryan’s Brave Example, NY Times). Americans can be certain, according to those such as Jackson and the staff of The American Bar Association, that Ryan’s stance is credible and backed up by more than 30 years of governmental experience, beginning in the state legislature. After this term, Governor Ryan was elected within the House of Representatives as Spokesman for the Republicans, and then as governor of Illinois from 1998 to 2003 (Jackson). Ryan has not only “kept an open mind on both sides of the issues of commutation for life or death,” but spoke with the family members of the murder victims as well as other national and foreign authorities regarding the issue.
Another factor that forces me reject the capital punishment system is its cost. According to one of the articles against the death penalty from geocities.com, “the average execution costs $3.2 million, which is six times what it would cost to keep a criminal in jail for life” (Financial Costs, www.geocities.com/capitalpuinishment2001). The article goes on to point out that the Justice System could only save money by cutting down on its legal fees. In other words, the capital punishment system is too expensive, and yet, worthless in its judgment without the necessary funds required by lawyers to defend their clients (Financial Costs). Too much money is needed to fund the capital punishment system.
On a fourth note, I believe that capital punishment is sickening when it is carried out in a such a way that convictions of guilt are still questionable. It is one thing to sentence someone to die by judging them by their alleged crimes, but it is certainly another to carry out a death sentence without getting enough evidence to back up the claim. In Governor Ryan’s speech to Northwestern University, he tells us that State Supreme Court Justice Seymour Simon once claimed that “when [Simon] joined the bench in 1980, three other justices had already said Illinois’ death penalty was unconstitutional. But they got cold feet when a case came along to revisit the question.” In other words, we need men such as Governor Ryan to step up to the plate despite negative feedback. We need men to defend morality. I am not saying these words to ingratiate anyone, let alone Governor Ryan, but rather, I am merely stating that problems need to be addressed rather than left alone to rot.
Presently, there are now ways in which guilt-confirmation can be attained, due to the fact that “many factors can contribute to a false verdict” (The Possibility of Erroneous Executions, www.geocities.com/capitalpunishement2001). According to the same source, media pressure and the views of the public may mislead the jury or members of the Court to carry out erroneous penalties. With the creation of new technology, however, Governor Ryan points out that new measures can now be taken to prove or disprove the innocence of the accused. According to an article by the Jefferson City News Tribune, the American Medical Association (AMA) has already supported Ryan’s idea of a moratorium due to new DNA testing technologies. With these tools, the DNA samples that were taken from the crime scene can now be tested according to the prisoner’s blood sample, in order to verify whether or not the alleged criminal was indeed the murderer.
On a fifth note, I will point out the fact that our country is the only industrialized nation who still utilizes the barbaric capital punishment system as a way of sorting out prisoners. Governor Ryan tells us in his speech to Northwestern University Law students and faculty that Nelson Mandela, Former President of the African National Congress and of South Africa, recently reminded him that “we are not in league with most of our major allies: Europe, Canada, Mexico, most of South and Central America,” and that we are instead “partners in death with several third world countries” (Gov. Ryan’s Jan. 2003 Speech). America, then, is the only powerful country who has not officially declared the capital punishment system as unjust and immoral, especially since “it is the only public policy that determines who lives and who dies” (Governor Ryan’s Jan. 2003 Speech). In short, according to Governor Ryan, America should reform its capital punishment policies to provide equal justice to all of its citizens, basing its conclusions only on viable evidence rather than faulty judgment.
Our capital punishment system is indeed a broken policy. If it were not, then all of our doubts toward the guilt of convicted murderers would be non-existent. The fact that I have uncovered a large amount of disturbing evidence against the capital punishment system is frightening, and yet, a step toward reform. Although I personally do not agree with having a death penalty, there is nothing wrong with taking the time to correct a flawed system (if in fact America does decide that it is absolutely necessary for the penalty to still remain active). Reformation of a broken policy is, by all means, essential when it comes down to deciding the fate of a handful of human beings.
Works Cited
"AMA Urged to Ask For Moratorium On Executions In US." Jefferson City News Tribune 12 June 2000. 4 Feb 2003. www.newstribune.com/stories//wor_0612000034.asp
"Discrimination and the Death Penalty." 19 Feb 2003. www.geocities.com/capitalpunishment2001/cons-discrimination.html
"Financial Costs." 19 Feb 2003. www.geocities.com/capitalpunishment2001/cons-financial/html.
Flock, Jeff. "'A Manifest Injustice Has Occurred.'" CNN.com 14 Jan 2003. 7 Feb 2003. www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/10/illinois.death.row/
Flock,Jeff. "'Blanket Commutation'Empties Illinois Death Row." 13 Jan 2003. 7 Feb 2003. www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/11/illinois.death.row/
Governor Ryan, George. "I Must Act: Speech At Northwestern University College of Law." 11 Jan 2003. 4 Feb 2003. www.life-info-de/inh1/texte/aktuelle_news3html.
"Illinois Suspends Death Penalty." CNN.com 31 Jan 2000. 4 Feb 2003. www.cnn.com/2000/US/01/31/illinois.executions.02/
Jackson Jr., Jesse. "Governor Ryan's Brave Example." The New York Times 3 July 2000. 4 Feb 2003. www.jessejacksonjr.com/issues/i07030014.html
"Methods of Execution." 19 Feb 2003. www.prodeathpenalty.com/methods.htm
Mill, John Stuart. "Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment." 19 Feb 2003. www.ethics.sandiego.edu/mill.html.
"The Death Penalty Only Continues Violence." 19 Feb 2003. www.geocities.com/capitalpunishment2001/cons-violence.html
"The Possibility of Erroneous Executions." 19 Feb 2003. www.geocities.com/capitalpunishment2001/cons-error.html.
Van Duch, Darryl. "The ABA, Rome, React to Governor Ryan's Moratorium." 4 Feb 2003. www.truthinjustice.org/../../moratorium.htm.
