| Admitting Failure |
1 December 2003
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Jury Asks for John Muhammed's Death
As a general rule, the death penalty is an admission by society of defeat. By determining that the defendant must die to atone for his transgressions or to protect the rest of the public from his predations, the collective will is saying, in essence, "all hope in this case is gone." The jury's recommendation of the death penalty in the case of John Allen Muhammad, the DC sniper, is such an admission, but it is also the truth.
Throughout human history, death has been handed out as a sentence far too frequently. Mankind has grown a little more civilized in the last couple of centuries, to the point where a great many countries have abolished it. However, there are certain cases, Mr. Muhammad's for one, where yielding to hopelessness is the only rational approach.
Mr. Muhammad did not kill in the heat of the moment. Rather, he deliberately went hunting humans -- repeatedly. The defense tried to show him as a loving father, and for all one knows, he might have been. Adolf Hitler was kind to his dogs, too. The character is irrelevant when the crime takes on the deliberate, cold calculation it did here.
The argument that killing Mr. Muhammad only makes the state equally bad is so much piffle. Mr. Muhammad shows no remorse, apparently enjoyed what he did, and he has given no reason to believe that he would not do the same again if the opportunity arose. By murdering the people he did, Mr. Muhammad put himself beyond the pale of humanity, and so his death by the order of the state will not be the death of a human being. He ceased to be one some time ago.
Life in prison without parole is the alternative of the squeamish, and if there were a metaphysical certainty that he could never escape, that might be acceptable. However, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to Elba, escaped, and thousands more died as a result of that "mercy." One would prefer that those who demand life without parole be given custody of Mr. Muhammad to see how well their proposal works.
There is nothing to be happy about in this case. Mr. Muhammad is a failed man, and his death is a waste of a life. Unfortunately, there is no good to be salvaged (unless possibly his organs can be transplanted -- but that requires his death), and so long as he breathes, there remains a risk to people who didn't go human hunting last year.
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