| Return to Cedric Harrison's Homepage |
ULTIMATELY, THE DEATH PENALTY IS NOT ABOUT NAMES OR NUMBERS, NOT WRITS OF HABEAS CORPUS OR TITLES ON LEGAL DOCUMENTS, BUT PEOPLE! PEOPLE WHO [ARE] LIVING IN ABJECT TERROR, OR WHO [HAVE] NO FEAR AT ALL; WHO [ARE] RESIGNED TO THEIR FATE, OR WHO [FEEL] SORROW AND SHAME; WHO [ARE] CONFUSED AND [KNOW] NOT WHAT [Is] HAPPENING TO THEM, OR WHO [KNOW] FULL WELL THEIR FATE AND [HAVE] LONG AGO ABANDONED HOPE...
DEATH PENALTY CASES FORCES SOCIETY TO
DO SOMETHING THAT IT DOES NOT DO ANYWHERE ELSE, SOCIETY HAS
TO TAKE ONE MEMBER OF A CATEGORICALLY FEARED AND IGNORED SEGMENT, (THE
UNDERCLASS), THE STREET PEOPLE, GANGS, "REDNECKS "- -AND PAY THE MOST
SCRUPULOUS ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS
OF THAT ONE PERSON S UNIQUE LIFE STORY...THE DEATH PENALTY DEMANDS THAT
SOCIETY
LOOK AT EXACTLY
HOW AND WHY THIS PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL PERSON WAS DEFORMED!
THESE ARE THE ISSUES THAT SOCIETY NORMALLY ENCOUNTERS AT THE
LEVEL OF STATISTICS! SINGLE MOTHERS, LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF LEAD EXPOSURE,
FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME, SEGREGATED EDUCATION, VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN,
EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN, OR POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER...
THE DEATH PENALTY MAKES SOCIETY LOOK AT ALL OF THE WAYS THAT A SOUL CAN BE HURT!!! IT IS A SORT OF ARCHEOLOGY OF THE DAMAGE THAT IS INFLICTED ON PEOPLE BEFORE THEY HAD ANYBODY TO DEFEND THEM... THIS INSISTENCE ON THE INDIVIDUALITY OF EACH CONDEMNED MAN AND WOMAN IS THE HEART OF THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY...
THE ERA OF ATTORNEYS AND LEGAL
ACADEMICS AS THE IMPORTANT ACTORS IN OUR SYSTEM OF
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS OVER... FOR MANY YEARS NOW, THE
LAWYERS HAVE CONTROLLED THE CONVERSATION ABOUT LEGAL HOMICIDE, MARGINILIZING
OTHER VOICES, NOW WE NEED TO REVERSE THIS... I MEAN NO DISRESPECT TO TRADITIONAL
LEGAL SCHOLARS, ALL I MEAN IS THAT DOCTRINAL ANALYSIS ISN'T WHAT WE NEED
NOW- WHAT WE NEED ARE POETS AND HISTORIANS AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS
AND CRIMINOLOGISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS, IN
SHORT, "STORYTELLERS WITH EXPERIENCE"...
WHAT WE NEED ARE STORYTELLERS WHO HAVE SPENT TIME,
A LOT OF TIME, LIVING WITHIN THE CULTURE OF "THE
CONDEMNED"... LAWYERS AT THEIR BEST ARE STORYTELLERS
(AND SOME OF OUR BEST STORYTELLERS HAVE BEEN
LAWYERS)...
REMEMBER, THE DEFENDANT, [US], IS TYPICALLY LIMITED IN HIS OR HER ABILITY TO LIVE A PRODUCTIVE, INDEPENDENT, LAW ABIDING LIFE... THESE LIMITS ARE IMPOSED BY A COMBINATION OF PROBLEMS: MENTAL ILLNESS, ORGANIC BRAIN DAMAGE, MENTAL RETARDATION, FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME, YEARS OF UNRELENTING BATTERING AND ABUSE AT THE HAND OF PARENTS OR ADULT CARETAKERS, DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE, OR, MOST COMMONLY, SOME COMBINATION OF THESE DISABILITIES...
WHEN A VIOLENT CRIME IS COMMITTED BY
A PERSON WHO HAS ONE OR MORE OF THESE DISABILITIES, THE
DISABILITIES HAVE NECESSARILY CONTRIBUTED TO THAT CRIME: THROUGH
IMPAIRMENT OF THE DISABILITY TO RECOGNIZE OR MAKE APPROPRIATE
JUDGEMENTS ABOUT STRESSFUL SITUATIONS AND ABOUT SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE
BEHAVIOR, THROUGH AN INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO ACTING ON
THE VERY STRONG IMPULSES THAT ALL OF
US HAVE, BUT THAT MOST OF US HAVE A WAY TO MODULATE; THROUGH A DIMINISHED
ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF ONE'S BEHAVIOR
ON OTHER PEOPLE, TO EMPHASIZE; THROUGH A TENDENCY TO
MISPERCEIVE SITUATIONS AS THREATENING OR HOSTILE WHEN THEY
ARE REALLY NOT; AND FINALLY, THROUGH A KIND OF REFLECTIVE AND ALMOST
UNCONSCIOUS RESORT TO VIOLENCE AS A WAY OF COPING WITH STRESS...
STOP, LISTEN, FOR JUST A MOMENT, TO SOME VOICES OF HOPE:
AT PRESENT, THE FUTURE OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE UNITED STATES LOOKS SECURE, BUT AS I RECALL, SO DID THE FUTURE OF SLAVERY ONCE UPON A TIME... SO DID THE UNQUESTIONED MALE SUPREMACY IN THE WORK FORCE, THE INDUSTRIAL PRACTICES THAT HAVE TURNED SO MANY OF OUR RIVERS AND LAKES INTO LIFELESS SEWERS, AND DOZENS OF OTHER CONDITIONS THAT WERE ULTIMATELY CHANGED...PERHAPS THE PRACTICE OF EXECUTING KILLERS IS DIFFERENT, BUT ITS CURRENT POPULARITY DOES NOT PROVE IT SO... AS LONG AS AT LEAST A FEW KEEP OBJECTING, THE DEATH PENALTY MAY SOMEDAY FALL UNDER ITS OWN WEIGHT...
CURRENTLY, THE TIDE IS AGAINST US, BUT
THE TIDE, GOD KNOW, WAS AGAINST THOSE PEOPLE IN SOUTH AFRICA TOO...IF ANYTHING
EVER LOOKED LIKE IT WAS EVER GOING TO BUDGE, IT WAS THAT APARTHEID
REGIME, AND THAT APARTHEIDS DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM, A SYSTEM
THAT SEEMED TO HAVE NO PARTICULAR ENEMIES...
LEAVING SOUTH AFRICA, IT SEEMED THAT THIS WAS NEVER GOING TO CHANGE...
REGIMES WILL COME AND GO, BUT THEY
ARE GOING TO KEEP ON HANGING PEOPLE FOR AS LONG AS WE
CAN IMAGINE...AND NOW THEY HAVE STOPPED!!!
OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT WILL / CAN BECOME EVER MORE ENTRENCHED IN THIS SOCIETYS POLITICS AND IN THIS SOCIETY'S PSYCHE...MORE STATES WILL ADOPT DEATH PENALTY STATUTES AND THE EXISTING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT STATES WILL JOIN THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY IN DEREGULATING DEATH, STREAMLINING THE SYSTEM, AND EXPEDITING EXECUTIONS.
SOCIETY WILL EXECUTE (MONSTERS) LIKE TED BUNDY, AND A FEW INNOCENTS LIKE 'CRAZY JOE' SPAZIANO, BUT MOSTLY SOCIETY WILL EXECUTE RUN-OF-THE- MILL KILLERS...
EVENTUALLY, HOWEVER, THIS POINTLESS KILLING BY SOCIETIES GOVERNMENT WILL END IN THIS COUNTRY--AS IT IS ENDED IN MOST OF THE REST OF THE 'CIVILIZED' WORLD...
HAVE ENOUGH FAITH IN THE (SOULS] OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO HOPE ??? YEAH RIGHT!!! EVEN NOW, IN THE MIDST OF THE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT JUGGERNAUT, THAT SUCH A TIME WILL COME FOR US ??? MAYBE SOMEDAY SOCIETY WILL MAKE PEACE WITH LEGAL HOMICIDE, BUT SOME KINDS OF PEACE CAN ONLY BE FOUND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF WAR...
REMEMBER, THAT A STEADY DRIP OF WATER,
WEARS A HOLE IN A ROCK...
MUCH STRENGTH AND ENCOURAGEMENT!!
CEDRIC
S. HARRISON H91000
SAN
QUENTIN STATE PRISON
DEATH
ROW
SAN
QUENTIN, CALIFORNIA
94974
| Return to Cedric Harrison's Homepage |
