Death Penalty, Part 3: The Company You Keep

Lawmakers in Hartford will hold hearings today on pending legislation to repeal the death penalty in Connecticut. I have already written in detail about my objections to capital punishment. There is no need, then, to reiterate the moral and ethical arguments, nor repeat the many facts upon which my argument is made. Rather, today I will appeal to the currency with which our legislators are most conversant: public opinion.

It is true that Connecticut poll respondents have indicated their favorable opinion of capital punishment by a 2-to1 margin. The Quinnipiac poll conducted at this time last year, at the height of the Petit trials, bears this out. Often overlooked, however, is that this margin is greatly diminished when respondents are asked about capital punishment versus life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Results of any poll are directly skewed by the way in which poll questions are asked. What would the results have been if the following questions were posed?:

• Are you in favor of capital punishment even if it does nothing to deter crime?
• Are you in favor of capital punishment even if the monetary cost is equal to or greater than the cost of life imprisonment?
• Are you in favor of capital punishment even if it places a significantly greater emotional burden on the families of the victims?
• Are you comfortable risking the execution of innocent people?

There is nothing wrong with opinions; everyone should have one, especially on such an important issue. I would prefer that legislators base their decisions on informed opinion rather than intellectually lazy polling.

Beyond the results of statewide opinion, I would suggest our legislators consider a broader type of public opinion. Remember those commercials for Verbal Advantage with the tag line, “People judge you by the words you use”? People also judge you by the company you keep. It is true, albeit disheartening, that up to 50% of the countries in the world have some form of capital punishment. Based on raw numbers, legislators have a convenient shield behind which to hide when they oppose repeal. As we had to dig deeper into in-state polling results, we must dig deeper into international statistics. Have our lawmakers looked at which countries maintain capital punishment? Every European nation save Belarus has outlawed capital punishment. Even Russia has abolished the death penalty. Most of South and Central America have abolished the death penalty. Where besides the United States is capital punishment still permitted? Here's where: China, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Saudi Arabia amongst others. In 2010, the United States carried out more executions than all these countries except China, North Korea, Iran and Yemen. What wonderful company to keep!

As I've stated previously, the fact that we are even having this discussion speaks rather poorly to where we are on the trajectory of human and social development. If Connecticut legislators still wish to vote against repeal of the death penalty in spite of the above information, so be it. Knock yourselves out...we'll see you in November.