Page 7 - June July 2017

Michael’s Murder - Capital Punishment Vs Life Imprisonment

If the execution of my brother’s killer would bring him back to life as if nothing had ever taken place, perhaps
my opposition to the death penalty would not exist because something good would come out of the sacrifice of
evil. As the family member of a murder victim, the restitution that I would receive from the forfeit of the killer’s
life, under Bedau’s conditions, would not seem as brutal as the “life for a life” method of justice that some parts
of our nation currently use.
C The flaw in Bedau’s fantasy-world argument makes it difficult to decide if taking a murderer’s life would right

A the wrong, because if it would, then capital punishment would represent moral justice which we all know
P that the act of murder by itself cannot do. If Benton’s life ended and restoration of Michael’s life began, the

I expression “a life-for-a-life” would no longer be valid since Michael would no longer be a murder victim, and
Benton would no longer be a murderer which would make the execution of Benton completely immoral.
T
A Why Kill Again?

L The question remains: What possible fulfillment could a person get out of killing another human being unless

the killer has perverse tendencies? In order to execute a killer, another murder must occur which makes the state
P carrying out the execution, and supporters of the execution have the same perverse tendencies as those of the
U killer.
N Most capital punishment supporters feel that a murderer should receive the same treatment that the victim

I received. When my family and I learned of Michael’s murder, we felt the same way. That thought and feeling
S subsided when we considered the fact that Benton must be alive to suffer for his crime, and he would not pay
for what he did if he received the death penalty.
H
M Life vs. Death
E In addition to my argument against the death penalty for the reasons I have already presented, I also examine the

N alternate to the death penalty, life in prison without parole, and why it provides more punishment than execution
T does. Some people feel that for a murderer, life in prison with no chance of ever seeing the outside world does
not provide satisfactory punishment; however, I feel that a life sentence without parole, and in Benton’s case
where he will serve almost a life sentence, fulfills the punitive expectation that I have for my brother’s killer.

Contrary to what many people think, prisoners who serve life sentences do not have it easy. Even though they
do have many things such as television, access to a library, and educational opportunities, they actually have
much more to worry about on a minute-by-minute basis than non-prisoners do, such as the loss of their lives,
beatings by other inmates, and constant sexual assault.

The reality of their existence inside prison walls differs substantially from what we, as non-prisoners, visualize.
True life prisoners pay a steep price for their crime, and to support my statements, I will provide examples
of why “lifers” pay a hefty price for choosing murder over living as a productive member of society. My
illustration consists of seven side-by-side comparisons of their lives on the inside vs. our lives on the outside.

Comparisons

Living space: We can choose our living space and decorate it as we see fit. A lifer’s living space typically
consists of a 6’ x 10’ cell with a toilet, sink, and a bed. Decoration must conform to prison policies.

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