Catherine Nighting: Okay, thank you very much for your views there. At this point I would like to bring in Morgan Jones, who as I said earlier, was on death row for 4 years until he was released after finding out he was innocent. So, Morgan, what was it like waiting to be killed for something you knew you hadn’t done?
Morgan Jones: It was strange, at first I was so angry, I couldn’t believe what was happening. But after a while I just let prison life become my daily routine. Well, I had no other option. I just tried to block out the image that I was going to die.
Catherine Nighting: David, what do you say to this, somebody like Morgan, who was innocent, yet had to wait 4 years to be told this?
David Allder: It is distressing with cases like this, but he was released before being put to death.
Morgan Jones: I am an exception to the rule, most of the time it’s black, poor, male Americans like me who are over represented on death row. A lot of these people might be innocent, yet nearly all the time they will be put to death. I was a lucky one but most of the time innocent people don’t get released.
Catherine Nighting: Geraldine, what do you think to Morgan’s story?
Geraldine Wright: Morgan is absolutely correct; it is the poor, black American males who are over represented on death row. I think it’s atrocious. One pilot study of over 2- dozen convicted criminals on death row found that all had been so seriously abused during childhood that they probably all suffered from brain damage. How can these people be put to death? They need help and counselling, not to be killed. How can we live in a World which still uses capital punishment in many countries, not just America, to kill people who have suffered from being abused during their childhood?
David Allder: 24 people do not represent everybody. I do accept that people such as the ones in the survey do need help and not killing, but the majority of inmates on death row are sane, and have murdered someone. So they must be punished for their actions.
Catherine Nighting: Nobody’s claiming they don’t need to be punished, but do they need killing?
David Allder: Yes. Once a convicted murderer is executed, there is no chance that he will break out of jail and kill or injure someone again.
Morgan Jones: If the security in prisons was better, they wouldn’t be able to break out.
David Allder: The security is good enough in most cases. All I’m saying is that the risk of a convicted murderer killing again is eliminated by capital punishment.
Catherine Nighting: Geraldine, is the length of stay on death row fair?
Geraldine Wright: No it’s not, not at all. If there were ever any validity to the deterrence argument, it is negated by the endless appeals, delays, technicalities and retrials that keep persons condemned to death waiting for execution for years on end. One of the strongest arguments right now against capital punishment is that we are too incompetent to carry it out. That incompetence becomes another injustice.
Catherine Nighting: But what about Morgan, he was released on appeal, wasn’t he?
Geraldine Wright: Yes, but after 4 years of waiting. Furthermore, Morgan is one of very few people to get released on appeal, and 4 years is a relatively short period of time to wait compared to other inmates.
Catherine Nighting: Do you think David, that the length of stay on death row is unfair, and just further illustrates the fact that capital punishment is not working as a deterrent?
David Allder: Capital punishment is there to say if you take somebody else’s life, yours will be taken as well. I believe this to be justice.
Morgan Jones: But these people have to wait as long as 30 years to be executed. Some even die a natural death while waiting on death row.
Geraldine Wright: And if you kill a convicted murderer, I feel you’re just as bad as them, because you’re just repeating what they did. What capital punishment is therefore telling society is that two wrongs make a right, when, quite clearly, they don’t.
Catherine Nighting: Morgan, what do you think about Geraldine’s point that by carrying out capital punishment, the state is just as bad as the murderer?
Morgan Jones: I completely agree. I think that permitting premeditated murder is totally unacceptable, whether done by the state or as a member of society. And to respond to David’s point, that if you kill, we’ll kill you. Well, how can you be so ignorant about the whole subject? People who commit viscous crimes have often suffered from neglect, emotional trauma, violence, cruelty, abandonment, lack of love, and a host of other destructive social conditions. To justify capital punishment in such a general way as you did just underlines your ignorance of the subject.
David Allder: I beg your pardon! I have been studying the subject of capital punishment for many years, and believe it to be an effective deterrent to deter criminals from killing, and it stops murderers from murdering again. So do not condescend me like that!
Morgan Jones: But I’ve had first hand experience on death row and this is simply not the case. During my 4 years on death row, the number of inmates increased, as well as this there other indications that show capital punishment actually increases the murder rate, which has been proven in America. So no David it does not deter criminals from killing, and this is why capital punishment does not have any place in today’s society.
Catherine Nighting: Thanks Morgan, okay final thought from Geraldine, why doesn’t capital punishment have a place in today’s society?
Geraldine Wright: Because there is the risk of executing the innocent, murder is unacceptable so the state shouldn’t do it; it lowers the value of human life, and does not deter criminals. Also, it is unfair and the length of stay on death row is unfair.
Catherine Nighting: And David, why does capital punishment still have a place in society?
David Allder: Because the streets are a lot safer, I believe it does deter criminals, and if someone does murder, they should be taken as well.
Catherine Nighting: Okay, that’s just about it for today, folks. I would like to thank my three guests, David Allder, Geraldine Wright and Morgan Jones for taking part in this controversial discussion. You’ve heard the pros and cons of capital punishment and whether it still has a place in society. But at the end of it all, the decision of whether capital punishment is a good or bad thing is yours but I hope we’ve educated you on the subject. So, until next time on’ Debate,’ Goodbye.
