commentary
th^ LACK AM. AS
Print
February 2, 2005
Face Off:
eu
Student Poll:
api taipunishment or life in prison?
Do politics matter
oromy from
Elizabeth Tobey
Tie Clackamas Print
Capital punishment is a neces-
ry sentence in today’s world.
When people discuss life in
Ison as opposed to capital pun-
Iment, there are a number of
¡tors left out that are pertinent
I this topic, such as when it
ould be used, why it is neces-
ry and why people think a life
ntence should be used instead.
[First, capital punishment
ould only be given when a case
s overwhelming proof that the
Ison committed the crime. If
pre is DNA evidence that could
used, use it. If there is no DNA
Idence, but with an iron clad
pin of evidence, then capital
pishment could still be issued,
id last but not least, when old
ath penalty cases come up on
e of their many appeals, if
ITA evidence is still viable it
buld be considered. ■
DNA evidence has recently
come a very useful tool in ¡den­
ying who was at the scene of a
me and also pointing out who
is holding the gun, smoking the
arette, using lip balm and even
ratifying whose hair fell onto
! victim’s body. A good DNA
ce can make a case against
raeone when there is virtually
[other evidence.
[When people commit crimes
[heinous as to be considered a
me against our society, such as
mes wherein the gender, race
religious status of the victim
he primary cause of the crime,
sital punishment must be used,
len such a thing occurs, they
re lost the right to live and
en up their right to decide
dr own fate.
So why should we as taxpay-
continue to pay for their con­
tinent while their continued
.stence acts as a pock mark on
r society? To me that makes no
ise. I can understand in cer-
i situations that a life sentence
pout the possibility of parole
The Clackamas Print
or even with parole in 30 years is
a necessary sentence, but in other
cases the only just and right deci­
sion is a sentence of death.
The death penalty is closure
for die victim’s family. When a
family member is gone yet the
person who committed the act
remains in prison, even for life,
he is still there, alive, a festering
wound to the family, not closure.
Really, what can decide whether
a family will come to a good clo­
sure is whether or not a criminal
gets the death penalty.
Some of the oppo­
nents of capital punish­
ment believe we should
abandon the death pen­
alty because they feel it
would lower our soci­
ety, or that it is immoral.
We use a system which
sentences the accused
with an impartial
jury and with
evidence
that is pre­
sented
to
the jury who
decide the ver­
dict.
The
sys­
tem we have in
place is set
up to mete
out justice. To
deny our judi­
cial system the
ability to do so
would be to
lower ourselves
and to weaken our
society.
In the end, we know the sys­
tem is not perfect, and we can all
think of improvements. Requiring
strict guidelines for it's use is cer­
tainly beneficial, but taking away
our ability to use it altogether
is imprudent, and will lead to
problems. This is why I think that
capital punishment has a place in
the system.
‘Why do we kill people who kill
people to show that killing people is
wrong?”
It’s one of those clever phrases
you» find on bumper stickers. But
it’s a question worth asking when it
comes to the death penalty
The death penalty is not an effec­
tive way to prevent murders. A recent
California study showed that homi­
cide rates went up by nine percent
during times when the State legalized
capital punishment, versus
periods of time when it
was illegal.
“It is the
deed
that
teaches, , not
the name we
give it,” George
Bernard Shaw
said. “Murder
and capital pun­
ishment
are
not opposites
f
that cancel -one
another, but sim­
ilar that breed
their kind.”
By allow­
ing executions
to remain a legal
form of punishment
we are perpetuating
the cycle of violence,
not putting a stop to
it.
“The death penalty is no more
effective a deterrent than life
imprisonment,” said U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
It is also much more expen­
sive. Calculations from criminal
justice systems in North Carolina,
California, Texas, and Florida all
show that it costs between $1.5 mil­
lion to $2.5 million more to execute
prisoners than it does to keep them
locked up for life.
Yet the U.S. remains one of the
few places where capital punishment
is legal. We have some of the highest
execution rates of all countries still
allowing it..
ext messaging taxes wallet, inhibits learning
yle Slate
he Clackamas Print
[Company InphoMatch reports that
y delivered over 650 million mes-
[es in the first quarter of2003 and
ghl V two billion the first quarter of
to you? Why or
2004. Most messages were between
students.
Short message service (SMS),
more commonly known as text mes­
saging, is the process of communica­
tion, where one cell phone user types
a message to another user.
Each message sent costs a little
over 10 cents. In addition to the high
cost, a text message has a limit to how
many characters, including punctua­
tion and spaces that can be included
in each text This is in comparison to
a cell phone call which costs about 11
cents, unlike a text with its limit of 80
characters
Other problems with texting
include the distraction it causes in
classroom and work environments.
56 percent of children 14 to 16 years
old were reported to own cell phones
in 2004. Early Show correspondent
Trish Regan agrees; in recent report
she said, “Teens often turn cell phones
into tools for socializing during a time
when they should be learning.”
Not only does text messaging dam­
age your wallet and mind, some doc­
tors believe that it canphysically cause
you harm. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,
which causes severe pain in the joints
of the hand and wrist, is caused by
repetitive flexing and extending of the
tendons in the hands and writs, par­
ticularly when done forcefully and for
prolonged periods; this happens when
you do such things as text an entire
conversation to a friend.
Every time someone gets a text
message from a friend asking “what’s
up” during the middle of class, their
education, and social and physical
health should all be considered. Not
to mention their wallet
It’s no surprise that we’re using
that power in a biased manner. It has
been shown that the use of capítol
punishment is often anything but
fair or just.
A study in Philadelphia recent­
ly showed that African-American
defendants were almost four times
more likely to receive the death
penalty than were people of other
ethnic origins who committed simi­
larcrimes.
“It is no small comment on our
society that we openly and con­
sciously tolerate a system in which
race frequently determines whom
we execute and whom we spare,”
Samuel Gross and Robert Mauro
stated in their book “Death and
Discrimination.”
If race doesn’t decide it, then
money will. 95 percent of all people
sentenced to death’ cannot afford
their own attorney. Whereas defen­
dants who can afford their own attor­
neys are much less likely to be given
the death sentence.
With such bias present in the
system mistakes are bound to hap­
pen. We can let someone out of jail if
they’re proven wrongfully convicted,
but we can’t bring them back to life
if they’re wrongfully executed.
In New York alone experts have
found that anywhere from one to
10 percent of people convicted of a
felony are innocent.
Since 1973 over 1 Oft condemned
prisoners have been released in the
U.S. due to credible claims of inno­
cence. Since 1976 over 800 have
been executed. How many of them
died innocent?
“The inevitability of error is just
one reason why the death penalty
is a bad idea,” said criminal justice
expert Scott Christianson. “But it’s
one that fair-minded citizens ... can
understand.”
Since 1976 three countries every
year have joined in abolishing the
death penalty. It’s time for the United
States to add its name to that list.
Tell us
what you
think!
Do you feel we have
Misrepresented a sub­
ject? Want to express
your view on an issue?
Write a letter to the edi­
tor: opediir dackamas.
B.lu. letters will be
printed after being
edited for grammar and
clarity
why not?
“No, ‘cuz they are too compli­
cated.”
Jillian Hill
“I didn’t used to care about
them but I do now. I’m wanting
to be more informed so that I
can make a better decision.”
for.”
Kimmy Carrier
“Yes, becuase they give order to
the chaos of America.”
“To a certain extent, some polit­
ical matters matter to me.”
Kevin Ellingson
This week ’spoil compiled by
Stephen Fostwick and Norma
Martine^.
S taff W riters : Frank Jordan,
PC l A CKA MA sPrint
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E ditor - in -C hief : Isaiah Creel
C opy E ditor : James .Tombe
N ews E ditor : Ben Maras
C ommentary E ditor : Shannon
Armstead
F eature E ditor : Karlin Johnson
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Pirtle, Amy Sandell, Kyle Slate,
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___________________
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•report the news in an honest, unbi­
ased, professional manner. The
opinions expressed do not necessar­
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or The Print. E-mail comments to
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