My name is Andy Hoffman. Thank you
for inviting me to talk with you today about my ongoing mission to see the
death penalty abolished, not only in Kansas, but throughout the United States.
There are many reasons for the
abolishment of the death penalty. But for me, it’s simple: the death penalty is
a final act that, if wrong, cannot be corrected.
Today, I would like to spend some
time outlining several reasons why I believe the death penalty should end. I know
there are some here today that totally disagree with me. They believe there are
those in our society who have committed such horrendous atrocities that the
only justifiable punishment is death.
Although I disagree with it, I accept the fact
that many educated people have that opinion. I also hope that after thinking
about issues involved in the death penalty those who still believe in it will
at least begin to re-consider the ramifications of their position.
I reached my own opposition to the
death penalty while studying journalism and criminal justice in college several
years ago. My professional career as a newspaper reporter and nationally
published true-crime author has only re-enforced my adamant opposition to it.
Covering courts and crime as a journalist,
I learned first-hand that, while our justice system is the best in the world,
it is still rife with imperfections. Although I have never personally seen the
justice system execute an innocent person, I have witnessed wrongful
convictions based on human error on numerous occasions. Many of those errors
involved police misconduct, overzealous prosecutors, and wrongful application
of the law by the judiciary.
While I was disappointed by the
Kansas Legislature’s lack of action on the death penalty during its recent 2012
session, I am still hopeful we are closer to abolishing legalized murder in the
state and nation than we were five years ago.
In the mid-1980s, Jerry Spence, an
infamous criminal defense attorney, author and long-time death penalty opponent,
wrote the following in his book, Of
Murder and Madness:
“Just because a majority of
Americans support death as a punishment does not make the killing right, it
only makes it legal.”
When he wrote that statement, a
large majority of Americans favored the death penalty, many simply out of fear
that without the death penalty those convicted of murder could be released from
prison to kill again. That is not the case today.
According to the Kansas Coalition
Against the Death Penalty, “Kansas already has an alternative sentence (to the
death penalty) on the books: life in prison without parole. Life without parole
means just that, there is no possibility of release from
prison.”
I think that, in part, has started
to change people’s opinion about the death penalty. Safety has become less
worrisome as our non-death penalty sentences for murder have become more
stringent.
As of April of this year, seventeen
states (as well as Washington, D.C.), have banned its use since the United
States Supreme Court re-instated it nationwide in 1976. Kansas re-instated the
death penalty in 1994. Although several people are currently on death row in
Kansas, no one has been executed in the state since 1965.
That is why I am so energized to
continue to support those who vigorously encourage its abolition.
Although I have never had a
relative or close friend murdered, I have witnessed the trauma of those victimized
by crime while covering courtrooms throughout the Midwest for several years. The
pain and suffering of family members, not only those who are related to victims
but also the defendants’ families, have left me little doubt that there are
victims on both sides of every case.
I have learned there is no such
thing as “closure” for victims’ families. Based upon hundreds of interviews
with family members of victims, I don’t think the execution of a defendant is
in any way helpful to the healing of the survivors.
I base that conclusion on the fact
that I have covered more than 200 death-related criminal cases during my
career, including three capital murder cases in Kansas.
Having listened to hundreds of
hours of trial testimony, I also do not believe the death penalty is a deterrent
to murder. Not once I have heard testimony to indicate a murder was avoided
because a defendant was concerned about the possibility of being executed for
his crime.
I also believe the death penalty is unfairly
applied, prone to false convictions based on prosecutorial, police and judicial
misconduct and driven in part by the amount of money a person has available to
defend himself against a capital murder charge.
According to the Kansas Coalition
Against the Death Penalty, statistics dramatically indicate the inconsistent
application of the death penalty.
“The likelihood of a person receiving a death
sentence (in Kansas) varies depending on where they live, their economic
status or other factors … Half of the 12 sentences handed down in
Kansas since 1994 have been in one county: Sedgwick.”
I truly believe that “color” does play a
significant role in the type of justice those accused of heinous crimes
receive. And it’s not the “color” of a person’s skin I am talking about. It’s
the color “green.” MONEY.
In a recent speech, I heard Sister
Helen Prejean, a world-renown anti-death penalty advocate; express a similar
view on how justice is dispensed in our system:
“Money and influence decide who is
considered for a parole hearing, what the decision is likely to be and what the
Governor’s decision is likely to be. It is that, not a person’s behavior in
prison that decides release.”
Ironically, I believe that money is
also a driving force for many who recently began moving toward the abolishment
of the death penalty. For many, it’s simply a cost-based decision. Budgets are
tight. How do we reduce spending? Let’s end the death penalty. Although it’s
not at the forefront of why I oppose death penalty, it does have some merit.
According to recent studies, it
takes approximately $1.2 million to prosecute a death-penalty case. Compared to
$740,000 to convict and house a person sentenced to prison for the remainder of
his life.
Rodney Nichols, whose sister was
murdered in 2001, is one of many who are taking a rational approach to punishment
for murder. In a statement to the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Nichols
wrote:
“I remain convinced that the death
penalty does nothing to ease my loss… Rather than spending extraordinary
amounts of taxpayer dollars to execute a very few convicted killers, Kansas
would do far better by using those funds to ensure hard life imprisonment for
the murderers while also assisting families and crime victims recover from
their painful experiences.”
Interestingly, recent data seems to
indicate that “anti-death” penalty advocates are not simply basing their
decisions on political ideology. While liberals seem to have always been at the
forefront of anti-death penalty movements, it appears the move to abolish the
death penalty is growing among conservatives, too. In this era of confrontation
among our elected officials, it gives me hope that we can, as a civilized
nation, reach a consensus on this issue.
However, we still have a long road
to travel before we, as a state and nation, realize the barbarity of legalized
murder.
Finally, I would like to add one
other consideration that is not often mentioned. In our current world of
24-hour television news, social media and global awareness, “what happens in
the United States no longer just stays in the United States.” It is spread
throughout the world instantaneously.
Although I do not believe President
John F. Kennedy had any premonition 50 years ago how fast today’s news would
travel globally, he did offer some food for thought:
“Those who make peaceful revolution
impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
I believe if we could abolish the
death penalty in our own country, it would be easier for us as a world power to
oppose executions, political persecutions and other human rights violations by
governments throughout the world. It is hard to condemn other countries’
actions when the United States continues to be barbaric in its use of the death
penalty on its own citizenry.
In conclusion, I would like to
reiterate one simple thought about the death penalty:
Regardless of the reason, if one innocent
person is executed, our system has failed us all.
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