Orville W. TaylorA WEEK ago, young Jordano Flemming was killed as he tried to defend his property. Then, with the greatest irony, on International Women's Day, Vilma Mais was slaughtered like an animal after praying at her church building. The week before, an entire family was massacred in St. Thomas.
It is inconsequential to me that Jordano was a brown middle-class-looking boy or that Mrs. Mais was the wife of a prominent attorney. After all, any life that is taken by any means except a judicial process or in defence of another life is a source of great abhorrence. However, Mrs. Mais' murder is even more tragic given that she has spent many hours of her life ministering to the welfare of incarcerated persons.
So now, after the debate has been 'hanging' in mid-air for a while there is a return to calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty. Heading the list is a gassed up Mayor Desmond McKenzie, who seemed almost moved to tears.
Over the last few years a tennis match of a debate has ensued between the Government and the Opposition. The Government has often suggested that the Opposition has been the roadblock in the resumption of hanging and Delroy Chuck has constantly engaged Attorney-General A. J. Nicholson on the topic. Therefore, if McKenzie is pro-hanging and the JLP is supposedly anti-hanging, then Chuck is parked in the wrong place and could end up in a 'tow-to-toe' with the mayor.
Of course, the human rights groups try to suggest that the taking of a life by a society is barbaric. In an interview on radio recently, Yvonne McCalla Sobers suggested that the old Mosaic Law of an eye for an eye is outdated and has no place in civilised society. Furthermore, she argues that the Jamaican legal system is so flawed, inadequate and under equipped that there are too many risks of innocent people being killed by the state.
DEATH PENALTY
Interestingly, the church as a group has not distinguished itself in the discussions, and there is a reason. The truth is, Christians have no biblical foundation for supporting the death penalty. People like Father Holung take the Christly high road and forgive the murderers just as Jesus did while he himself was brutally murdered. However, most denominations are silent because advocating the judicial execution of anyone is, Judaic and Muslim but totally unchristian.
Nevertheless, the Church is not the state and vice versa. One question that it has to grapple with is; does the death penalty serve any purpose? Well, there is no evidence that it acts as a deterrent and the need to provide an emotional release to society or to fulfil collective revenge is not consistent with civilisation. It is for that reason that Britain and the rest of the European Union (EU) have outlawed it.
But this is not the EU and as the United States has demonstrated, there are several states including the President's Texas and Arnold Swarzenegger's California where executions are continuing. Within the U.S. there is a lot of opposition to capital punishment and some of the advocates have fallen into hot water. One such casualty has been black actor, Danny Glover, who has found himself on some conservative 'White List' because he said that he would oppose death as a punishment to even "Osama bin Hidin."
Interestingly, the EU and the UK are not seriously addressing America's maintenance of the death penalty. But then again, only we Third World minnows are fully under the sanctions of the UN and the Privy Council.
CHALLENGES IN THE SYSTEM
Still, I believe in the death penalty despite the shortcomings in the system. If there are flaws to address then they should be fixed. To suggest that the death penalty should be abolished simply due to challenges in the system is like saying that we should eliminate examinations because some bright persons will do poorly in them.
Many murderers are not of the view that they will be caught so they have no reason to fear either the hangman's noose or an extra-judicial demise at the hands of the security forces. What is needed is to provide the police with better equipment, including computers and networks that connect nationally and internationally.
I personally believe that the money spent to recruit 'off the-Mark Shields' and "more or Les Green," could be better spend on providing the senior local officers with the wherewithal to more effectively fight crime. The police know what needs to be done. Help them instead of debating!
Inasmuch as there is no evidence that hanging scares would-be murderers, I am willing to bet that not one of them will do the Lazarus imitation and return to kill again if they are hanged. What needs to be known is that although close to 1,700 murders were committed last year, it is possible that they were perpetrated by as small a number as 350 murderers. So, simply put, if we pop the necks of those who are convicted and sentenced to death for capital murders they can't kill anymore. Remember, many persons on death row or serving life sentences continue to kill in prison and also order and co-ordinate other murders from behind prison walls.
So, as I wipe my tears for the many homicide victims, I a black man who is sensitive to the history of lynching in the U.S. deplore hanging. Therefore, as unreliable as JPS is I go for the electric chair. Like Macca Diamond and Blacka, I say of the murders, "Bun him!"
Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
