Executing justice

It was extremely welcome news to see that California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is calling for public debate on the death penalty.

“I don’t think it is working,” she was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story. “It’s not effective. We know that.”

Given the number of exonerations of death-row inmates in recent years—as well as moratoriums imposed by governors in both Illinois and Oregon, and California’s inability to carry out the death penalty in a legal and humane fashion, as witnessed by the court order barring executions in our state until proof that the process is no longer flawed—there is plenty to be concerned about.

The risk of executing someone who is not guilty is one that we should be loathe to take, given that it cannot be rectified. Add to that the mounting evidence that the death penalty does not serve as a viable deterrent to violent crime, it becomes instead an expensive and pointless exercise in state-sanctioned murder.

It is worth pointing out that Justice Cantil-Sakauye is considered one of the most conservative members of the court, appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is something that we can agree on, no matter our political allegiances: The death penalty is flawed, expensive and ineffective. It’s time to get rid of it.