Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent. -Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., 1994
An execution is not simply death. It is
just as different from the privation of life as a concentration camp is
from prison. It adds to death a rule, a public premeditation known to
the future victim, an organization which is itself a source of moral
sufferings more terrible than death. Capital punishment is the most
premeditated of murders, to which no criminal's deed, however
calculated can be compared. For there to be an equivalency, the death
penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of
the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who,
from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such
a monster is not encountered in private life.
Sister Helen Prejean
The profound moral question is not, "Do they deserve to die?" but "Do we deserve to kill them?"
Harry A. Blackmun, former U.S. Supreme Court Judge, (1) & (2) Callins v. Collins, 114 S.Ct.1127 (1994); (3) PBS Online NewsHour, 3/5/2004; (4) Herrera v. Collins 506 US 390 (1993).
Of one thing, however, I am certain. Just as an execution without
adequate safeguards is unacceptable, so too is an execution when the
condemned prisoner can prove that he is innocent. The execution of a
person who can show that he is innocent comes perilously close to
simple murder.
Sister Helen Prejean
It should be clear that the death penalty does just the opposite of
promoting decency and respect for life. It dehumanizes people and
promotes murder. It can never be applied fairly.
“I swore never to be
silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and
humiliation. We must always take sides. . Neutrality helps the
oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never
the tormented. To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of
all.. Elie Wiesel Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986
You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas
biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and
transform even the biggest nation.
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. Elie Wiesel
Martin Luther King
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We
are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single
garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all
indirectly.
Edmund Burke (attributed)
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing