The cost of Life
There have been a number of stories recently about efforts to abolish the death penalty because of cost. A good collection of those stories is here. Currently 8 States are considering proposals to do away with the death penalty because it cost more to execute someone than jail them for life.
What troubles me about this debate is how about reflects on our current culture. Human llife is assigned a value in dollars and cents. At some point apparently its alright to take it as long its not too expensive. Concerns about equality and deterrence, and fear of executing an innocent person are not the subject of discussion; instead, its come down to dollars and cents.
I guess it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. The vast majority of people believe we have executed innocent persons, yet most of those still believe in the death penalty One life is not all that important; especially when it is a nameless, faceless person. We make the same decisions in other areas of life; it's not limited to the death penalty.
No matter what the reason, I'm happy for the trend. It is costly to handle a death penalty case, and we don't even spend enough now in defending those cases. The economic crisis appears to be just we need to recognize this.
