HELP ME UNDERSTAND UNEQUAL JUSTICE

Are we competent to execute people?

Allegory of Justice Punishing Injustice. Image by Jean-Marc Nattier  (1685–1766), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain". This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

For the past several years I have been closely following the affairs at Texas Death Row. This has led me to explore the background of the men and women awaiting execution and the circumstances surrounding their sentence.

The arbitrary nature of imposing capital punishment has been made clear to me and many others connected with the Texas Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty.

This article describes a situation that should be of concern to those who follow the arbitrariness in capital punishment cases. As a supporter of the abolition of capital punishment I am glad that the killer in this case is not headed for Texas Death Row.

Of concern to me is that the Texas Justice System delivers the full weight of the law on marginalized members of society— those unable to fund competent attorneys. The same system pours bountiful mercy on those who kill and society deems to be law-abiding citizens.

Does this paradox not call for repealing the laws that allow capital punishment?

What do you think?

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