Death penalty won't work
2007-07-24 09:09
Anya, News24 User
Judge Dennis Davis is quoted as saying that 85% of the people want the death penalty back.
He however mitigates his statement by warning that there should rather be "calls for greater efficiency by police and prosecutors so that their evidence against those accused of murder will stand up in court ... their work is often so sloppy that those accused of income tax fraud stand a greater chance of being found guilty and sentenced than murder suspects".
Yes, perhaps there is something comforting in knowing that the worst of the worst will face death in the wake of a particularly heinous crime. What proponents of the death penalty fail to take into consideration is that if the state asks for the death penalty to be imposed on a person (presuming that we still had a death penalty), the burden on the state to prove that this is an appropriate sentence is even greater.
The courts have consistently stated that it is better to free a guilty person, than to incarcerate (or put to death) an innocent person. Therefore, if our police and prosecutors cannot even compile evidence to convict a person (without the added evidence that the appropriate sentence is death), then even if we have the death penalty brought back, it is doubtful whether it will be imposed to the extent that people believe it should.
No room for error
Courts will need to be extremely careful to ensure the person's guilt before imposing the death penalty, and it can only adjudicate as to the appropriateness of the sentence if proper evidence is brought before it.
Again, we are at the mercy of the police and the prosecutors to do their work well and effectively so that the courts can do their work!
The death penalty is not a magic wand that will fix all our problems - all sectors that play a part in the criminal justice system must act effectively, efficiently and diligently to ensure high conviction of criminals.
Civil society in turn must also act. Those who feed the criminal networks by purchasing stolen goods, those who assist criminals and all of us who look the other way must also play our part in ensuring that the reasons for criminality is eradicated - and this is done through building family and social networks, of educating ourselves and our children, of building a society based on morality and human values.
Poverty must be erased and jobs created. In order to do this, we all have a part to play. Next time you are faced with bribing a traffic officer, or paying for a driver's license - stop and ask yourself if you are contributing (even in a little way) to the lawlessness that seems to grip this country.
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