I have to admit that years ago, I was supportive of the death penalty. It seemed to make sense, “an eye for an eye, a life for a life.” But after many years of thought, and the fact that mistakes get made even with our judicious judicial system, I cannot support the death penalty. It goes beyond the worry about mistakes though.
Today in the Toronto Star, there is a poll of Canadians that suggests that a majority of Canadians might now be supportive of the reinstatement of the death penalty in Canada. I don’t want to provide analysis of the poll, reported here, or maybe even any long windsuffering reasons for my rejection of the death penalty – perhaps I will do that later.
I certainly don’t believe in lenience towards those who commit heinous crimes. But I don’t think it does anyone any good to have a blood lust to the extreme, either. Hey.. I’m willing to defend myself, the ones I love and my property, and if that means I have to use deadly force at the time, then so be it. But to inflict the death penalty after the crime has been done (and even with our checks and balances, our juries and judges have been known to be wrong), I am not with that.
Posted by Ian Scott