This thing in Jersey...

Personally I'm glad that New Jersey abolished the death penalty. I'm also glad that I live in a state where it's been outlawed.

I oppose the death penalty. Believe me, there's guilt involved in that, when I think of some of the horrific crimes that have been committed. So it's not always easy for me to admit that's how I feel.

There are many reasons. Here are a few. It's been proven it doesn't work as a deterrent. It's unfairly meted out (the per capita numbers of death penalty sentences handed to white-on-white crime, black-on-black crime, white-on-black crime and black-on-white are disparate, which should not be). People with more money are less likely to be sentenced to death because they can afford better counsel. Innocent people can be put to death (this month alone there were 2 death sentences dropped because the people were proven innocent). I do not like the idea of government sanctioned executions and it costs the taxpayers lots and lots of money.

I do understand and sympathize with the plight of people who are left in the wake of a violent crime. My beliefs do not mean I don't think justice should be served. But there is just too much wrong with the death penalty for me to think that it's right.

I had a friend once who told me "You'd feel differently if you had children." ?? I've thought about that and thought about that, and I've never been able to make sense of it. So, because I haven't been a parent I'm seeing things wrong? So, does everyone with children think the death penalty is a good thing? Is my capacity to love, to forgive, to feel, challenged by the fact that I'm not a mother? I have to tell you, that really hurt.

Maybe if I lost someone to a violent crime I'd feel differently. I can't even imagine the pain of the victims' families. I know that there are cruel, heartless people out in the world and there are plenty of people that the world would be a better place without. But I don't think it's my place or my state's place to decide when and how they should leave this earth. The system needs fixing, folks, that's a huge part of the problem. Maybe if someone could tell me with a clear conscience that no one on death row is innocent, maybe I'd have more confidence. When our government is deciding whether a person lives or dies, there is no margin of error.

What I do know for sure is that 2 people in our nation were going to be executed, EXECUTED, this month alone for crimes they didn't commit. I wonder how many others among the 3,000+ (not quite sure of that number) inmates on death row are innocent?

In case you're wondering, I'm also pro-choice. Sometimes people wonder that. That may be a dichotomy, but somehow I feel it's a few ticks less hypocritical than folks who are pro-death penalty and anti-choice. I can 'splain that in a subsequent post. For now just call me crazy.

I figure, this is a blog, and I haven't really written anything contentious before, so this is my stab at it.