Ruminations on the Death Penalty

The situation in the US is that there are 50 plus jurisdictions; so it is not even, primarily, a Federal issue. It is mainly a state issue. In Illinois, at one point, 70% of death row inmates were eventually cleared of the charges that sent them there. I mean cleared, not overturned on a technicality. In most cases, the police and prosecutors had either suborned perjury, planted incriminating evidence, or withheld exculpatory evidence. What ensued was that some conservative Republicans were outraged about this. Pressure was put on our Republican Governor. It helped that George Ryan got caught with his hand in cookie jar. [pay to play kickbacks in Illinois, are a bi-partisan tradition.] While basically on the way to jail, George declared a moratorium on executions.

update: "Illinois has executed a total of 12 people since 1976. In January 2003, Governor Ryan commuted every death sentence in the state, clearing death row as he left office. Later that year, the legislature passed some significant reforms, but many of the committee's recommendations have not yet been implemented. Under the current governor, the moratorium has remained in place. Meanwhile, an abolition bill passed out of committee with a vote of 8-4 in 2003." ~~ Link

As far as I know, not a great deal has been done about "Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct." The attitude, at the time, on the right, was they were 'acting under the color of the law.' There is a pendulum issue. We do not want to place procedural handcuffs on law enforcement. We do not want to "disincentivize" solving cases. Good is always at a competitive disadvantage; because evil gets to cheat. In an effort to level the playing field; we can become what we despise. Procedural handcuffs on cops create situations in which good incriminating evidence is thrown out, as illegally obtained, or even as fruit from a poisoned tree. Of course, exculpatory evidence is not held to the same standards. This goes to one of the main reasons cops and prosecutors suborn perjury, plant incriminating evidence, or withhold exculpatory evidence. They generally {not always} believe they are framing the guilty.

There are, of course, other reasons why law enforcement officials cheat. There is public pressure to solve cases quickly. In this connection; there is talk about victim's rights and closure. That smells of revenge seeking to me. Does a victim have a right to see the perpetrator punished? There might be a conceptual flaw in the adversarial system; winning and losing can trump truth seeking. Investigative techniques might tend toward formulating a hypothesis, identifying suspects, and then seeking evidence that supports preconceptions; while dismissing facts that do not fit. There are also plain old dirty cops, who are basically acting as undercover agents of criminal enterprises. Some are possibly driven by special social, cultural, political and financial interests.

Another issue is rehabilitation. Buddhism informs us that retaliation / revenge, is an unwholesome motivation / intentionality {cetana-samskara}. The only wholesome rationale for the death penalty is prevention; that it prevents greater harm. It is argued that it is an ineffective deterrent; but I am not sold on that. It does deter the executed convict from killing again. The rate of recidivism among the executed is very low. In addition, the threat of the death penalty is a very useful tool for law enforcement in obtaining evidence and confessions. If we take that off the table in advance; then there is less incentive for suspects to talk. Moreover, I think that locks on doors keep the honest people out. The threat of punishment; including the death penalty, does deter most of us. For criminals, probably no deterrent works. The threat of getting caught might even motivate them to commit other crimes; such as killing witnesses.

That said, AFAIK, none of the states allow rehabilitation as an affirmative defense to overturn a death sentence? It can be a mitigating circumstance for prosecutorial discretion, clemency, paroles, and lighter sentences? I am not sure on that. There was a case in Texas, involving then Governor George W. Bush, in which a clearly rehabilitated killer was put to death. Politics were apparently a factor there. As a Republican, Bush most likely did not want to be in a position of an appearance of favoritism; by granting clemency to a born again follower of Pat Robertson. "Equal Justice Under the Law" can complicate things. The thing is, the rule of law can sometimes be oppressive. We can became a slave of the law. Where do compassion and forbearance fit in? BTW, former President Clinton, while Governor of Arkansas, did not act to stop the execution of a man who was severely mentally impaired. The convict was unable to finish his last meal, and asked a guard to save his pie for later. Again, that was likely politics. As a Democrat, Bill Clinton likely did not want to appear soft on crime.

The bottom line, my take, is that the entire system of criminal justice, in regards to sentencing, is flawed at the roots. The rationale is primarily punishment / retaliation / revenge. The objective ought to be rehabilitation. We, as Buddhists, actually have very powerful tools for rehabilitation.

The Stilling / Concentration / Absorption {samatha or shamatha / samadhi / jhana or dhyana} have been shown to improve cognitive skills. [Link: Meditate To Concentrate.] The metta-karuna bhavana do cultivate kindness and compassion. [link: Study shows compassion meditation changes the brain.] The Mindfulness / Insight meditations appear to cause people to self reflect and "see themselves;" which arouses the desire to self reform. [see: Vipassana has been very successful in reducing the rate of recidivism within prison populations.] Nichiren related practices such as shodai 唱題 [daimoku mantra chantind], kanjin 観心 [passana-citta] and zange 懺悔 [kshama-deshana], are forms of concentration [shamatha, samadhi, dhyana], mindfulness [sati or smrti] and insight [vipassana or vipashyana] practices.