|
I think it is wrong to say that the death penalty "simply doesn't" make anybody feel better. It most certainly does make some people feel better.
When I was a young boy (I can't remember what summer it was) Wesley Allen Dodd kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and mutilated three younger boys before stringing them up in a local nature preserve. He was captured attempting to abduct a fourth boy. There was now doubt of his guilt (he had documentation in his home) and he was sentenced to death.
He did not appeal his sentence and actually sued to prevent others from appealing for him. This resulted in a relatively quick execution (something like 4 or 5 years from sentencing).
I didn't know any of the boys myself, or their families, but I did know many people who knew one of the boys. There is no denying that when Dodd was executed it made them feel better. They were pleased that his punishment for removing that boy from this life was to be removed himself. They were pleased that there was now zero chance that Dodd would ever be able to do to another person what he had done to those three boys.
I personally don't feel that way about it, but there is no denying that a lot of people do.
[As a gruesome aside. Washington State has two forms of execution (or it did back then): hanging or lethal injection, and the prisoner was allowed to choose which form would be used. Another prisoner on death row selected hanging (as did Dodd) and then intentionally gained a massive amount of weight, only to sue that hanging would be inhumane since his weight would likely cause decapitation. The statute did not allow prison officials to switch him to lethal injection over his objection and the debate over this (not his guilt) successfully delayed his execution for a long time. I don't know how it all resolved.]
|