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Show Capital punishment ; tt9s a siMrall Issuae ! rightness or wrongness of .punishment is largely a f issue, and as two Weber College professors demons-li demons-li it is also an emotional one. d MICHAEL Norman, associ-Wessor associ-Wessor of corrections and Ircement at the college and '1 veteran of the criminal system, said, "The justice says that some must die, but J,ceofmen is insufficient to "hat should be." ,,. t Kay Gillespie, a professor . i: inioEV who has directed juve-kVSnters,servedasafull-' member of the state boa?d of 3 Hi:i nsand researched the lives of icer. hroW inmates, countered, loca-e- '.Itbunishment is not hypoc-' hypoc-' i Only a society that values life can take life from those 'refuse to respect it." iff TWO were debating in an ,es forum sponsored by the I Wof Social Science. Each had 1 nutes to explain his views and 1 then two minutes for a rebuttal. Dr. Norman said whether capital punishment is right or wrong centers cen-ters on its influence as a deterrence to further crime, whether it is morally mor-ally repugnant and if capital punishment pun-ishment is administered fairly. "IF YOU'RE poor or black your chances of receiving capital punishment pun-ishment are much better," he said. He noted that even though proponents prop-onents tout the death penalty as reducing violent crime there are more studies that show it has no effect. DR. NORMAN said, "It has never nev-er been proven either way and I say the burden of proof is on the backer. back-er. Give us something more than good faith. Show us good facts." But Dr. Gillespie counted, "I had a local judge tell one of my criminalistics classes that he has one case every two months where the criminals planned around killing kill-ing because they fear execution." DR. GILLESPIE agreed the deterrent de-terrent factor of capital punishment punish-ment will most likely never be proven, but said it does more than just curb crime. "It reinforces the solidity of society. It serves to dramatize the distinction between us and them and provides guidelines of what is right and wrong," he noted. DR. GILLESPIE said that it provides pro-vides an opportunity for the victim to give a last tv-stament and to "finally "fin-ally be through with it," and it gives victims a feeling that the justice jus-tice system works. He said, "It brings about a certain cer-tain finality and victims can get on with their lives." DR. GILLESPIE said that the death penalty does act as a deterrent deter-rent and said that the fact that 90 percent of the population don't kill is proof. Dr. Norman disagreed, "It's absurd to say that most people don't kill because of capital punishment." punish-ment." DR. NORMAN suggested life imprisonment im-prisonment without the possibility of parole, as an alternative to the death penalty, noting that the cost to the tax-payer to house a prisoner for life was roughly equivalent to the fee for the numerous appeals and court fees paid by tax dollars under the present system. Dr. Gillespie said that his research re-search shows more death row inmates in-mates would rather die than spend life in prison. Putting them in a bathroom-sized cell for life "is more immoral" than killing them, he said. HE NOTED that the whole issue of capital punishment is a moral one and the more a society values human life the more right they have to take the life of those who do not. "Everyone is not equal. Those who kill are not of equal value to society," he said. |