The Halcyonite

Capital punishment is legalised murder. And those in power choose exactly who they want to target. 

By Samara

’25

Capital punishment in the USA is not by any definition new. Just from the start of 2023, 7 executions have taken place, with 3 more scheduled before February ends. The last execution was just two days ago, 8 February, and took place in Texas. John Lezell Balentine, age 54, convicted in 1998, applied to stop his execution on the grounds that his “capital conviction was tainted by racist jurors…and his own lawyers’ prejudice” (BBC, 2023). The Supreme Court turned down his application without comment, and he was executed hours later. 

Society has made important and life altering innovations throughout history. The industrial revolution in the 18th century, the discovery of penicillin in 1928 and the invention of the cell phone in 1983. But do you know what else was life altering in 1983? Children under the age of 18 were being sent to death row and tried as adults. Black Americans accounted for 43% of all executions in America. George Stinney Jr, a black 14 year-old boy, used a Bible as a booster chair to reach the straps of the electric chair. It took fewer than 10 minutes to convict him yet it took 70 years to exonerate him. 

Capital punishment is an outdated ‘law’ that truly derails any and every development society takes pride in. 

This type of murder may not be carried out by ‘ruthless criminals’ on the street, but it instead, falls in the hands of those in power; where prejudice dictates the targets. Surely, this an even more disturbing act of ruthlessness. 

‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’-Lord Acton 

Since 1973, at least 190 innocent people have been killed; bearing in mind there are many more undiscovered and unknown to the public. Each stage of the process for death row feels set up in a way to ensure the innocent are not brought justice. From stage one, police often charge people on the grounds of an ‘easy arrest’. Take Kevin Keith, for example, a man accused of triple homicide. Despite having a strong alibi and no physical evidence linked to the crime scene, he was arrested with no police interview. His photo was used in a psychologically manipulated line up and shown to the survivors who did not identify him as the killer. 28 years later and he is still behind bars. 

Once a trial has been completed and the accused is found guilty, any new evidence found in their favour will be taken to an appeal. It is extremely difficult to be granted an appeal and even more difficult for the court to take it into consideration. Who decides if there is a right to appeal? Judges. How can someone put trust into a system where a judge can dismiss exculpatory evidence–evidence that may suggest an innocent person should not be murdered? How can you trust that system? 

In 1988, Walter McMillan, a black man living in Alabama, was blamed by a white man named Ralph Myers. Ralph had previously been arrested for the connection to a murder and suffered from severe psychological trauma. Once Walter’s case had fallen apart, it was discovered that the police had bribed Ralph Myers to accuse Walter, which Ralph later testified to in court. Walter’s alibi was strong and supported by many, but this was not taken into account because the witnesses were black. The accusations against him were even disproven through visual evidence. Still, because an appeal was not granted, he remained on death row, sentenced to the electric chair for a further 6 years for a crime he did not commit. 

I am aware the most common argument in favour of the death penalty is riddled with the word ‘justice’. And I am aware as to why justice is sought after. The word means to have concern for peace and conform to moral principles. It attracts synonyms like ‘honesty’, ‘equity’ and ‘neutrality’. Why wouldn’t you want justice? 

But systematic murder is not the right step to achieving any of these words. Our subjection to propaganda surrounding the practice has caused us to normalise murder and further yet, praise it. 

As Bryan Stevenson, a criminal defence lawyer and social justice activist once said, “‘”If it is not right to rape a rapist then how can it be okay to kill a killer?” 

Before someone argues that murder is justice, I want to know if they are simply overlooking the ‘gory details’. Would they be in favour of the penalty after watching someone be electrocuted at 2000 volts? Or after watching a person scream in pain as the lethal injection slowly attacks their system? Since the 1990s, there have been 11 botched executions in America that caused unnecessary agony for prisoners. 

John Marrion Grant was given the lethal injection in America, 2021. Witnesses observed Grant ‘convulsing, straining against his restraints, struggling to breathe, and vomiting’. It took him 21 minutes to die. Is this justice? 

Pedro Medina, a Cuban refugee was convicted of murder in 1997. On the electric chair, Medina’s head burst into flames and filled the room with smoke. His last words were, ‘I am still innocent’. Is this justice? 

What is often frustrating is people in power deliberating the constitutional and unconstitutional methods of capital punishment. Human Rights watch relayed, “States that execute prisoners have an obligation under human rights law to do it as humanly as possible, and the lethal injection protocol fails that test”… Correction: every protocol fails that test. And I believe every State has an obligation to not murder its people. 

Before I am told, ‘racial profiling and class prejudices are not prevalent today.’ I want to make it clear, it most definitely is. I attended the crown court a few weeks ago to watch a black man accused of murder. And what did I see? 10/12 of the jury were white, the prosecuting legal team were white. The defendants were white. The judge was white. In today’s world the exclusion of people of colour in court may be deemed as unintentional or may not be openly demonstrated. But exclusion continues to occur, and this concerns me.

Until we abolish capital punishment, we cannot live in a world where morals count for anything. I will not live in a world in which those in power can actively murder who they choose and call it ‘constitutional’. I do not want to live under laws that are built upon a gruesome history of hate, murder and discrimination. And I do not want to live in fear of being in that electric chair for a crime I did not commit. I know you don’t either. 

Now ask yourself, is capital punishment justice, or just corrupt?