The Battalion
uesday - August 5, 1997
he person behind the conviction
Capital punishment aims for justice; seems to overlook the people in question
jk There were you a week
Xl ago? I was standing in
fV the Texas death cham-
r, watching representatives
this state deliberately exe-
te a living human being in
;most calculating manner,
lat 1 witnessed was ghastly
dinhumane. It was one final
t of inhumanity committed
thin the rhetoric of justice,
tit served only to perpetuate
aith in the effectiveness of violence as
tmo olution to our grim human problems.
flRobert West #731 had ceased to be a
jlreatto society. Having spent his pre-
alms 15 years on death row, locked in a
i X8’ metal cage, Bobby had endured a
£ ngand special torture. His story is
#1 bt extraordinary, and as is the case
\< th all of us, there will come a day
ben nobody will remember him, no-
dy will recognize his name. But un-
^ [eus, he will posthumously and
revermore bear the terrifying distinc-
13 tmofbeing the 132nd person to die
[ i hethal injection since Texas reinstat-
1( ] ithe death penalty in 1977.
■ Bobby first touched my life in mid-
1 j ly. Unaware of his pending execution
1 ite, I had mailed him an inquiry letter
st a month before, hoping to inaugu-
te a correspondence and wanting to
lin a condemned man’s viewpoint of
fS einside the prison system, as well as
it. But Bobby gave me more than I
J itild have ever hoped for, and the
L iowledge I gained has left me equivo-
ph iland uncomfortable about supporting
e le death penalty.
, What does the death penalty accom-
j lish? Does it deter crime? It doesn’t ap-
earso. Research on capital punishment
as shown the ultimate penalty fails to
revent deaths, fails to make society a
[roi icerand better entity and fails to satisfy
nymoral need. But the deterrent factor
iweak, lost in the quagmire of indefi-
lite prison time and seemingly random
Former Battalion Editor
Stacy Stanton
Senior English major
m
executions. If only the system
could be efficient and accurate
... If we could only make exe
cution certain ... But not all
capital offenders will be exe
cuted; some will not be found
out, some tried and acquitted,
some found guilty of lesser
charges, some given commut
ed or reversed sentences. Per
fection is an impossibility.
Yet we must ensure perfec
tion, for the cries demand, “an eye for an
eye.” Those cries are backed by moral
common sense, tradition and philo
sophical thought. And the weepers de
mand a rush to execution. The mother of
Bobby’s victim said she resented his
chances of appeal granted him since the
night of the murder. But those who tout
morality must certainly want the con
demned to have every chance possible
to rightfully escape death, for the impris
oned bears life — a life just as precious
as that of the victim’s.
Bobby’s life was indeed precious, if for
no other reason than the sole existence
of life itself. He made bad decisions and
was forced to pay the price, but why
could his life not have been spared? Giv
en the heinous inadequacies of the
death penalty, would society not have
served itself — its citizens — more justly
if Bobby had been sentenced to life in
prison without parole and with restitu
tion administered to the victim’s family?
I was blessed to visit Bobby for two
hours one week before his execution.
Our conversation sparkled, and it
seemed we were both comfortable in
our fist encounter, separated rather un
comfortably by a security screen and
glass window. Bobby related horrifying
experiences from the streets — first re
form school, then drugs, prostitution,
murder; he spun wonderfully thrilling
tales of his prison years. He was forth
right and engaging, and his stories were
of another world. Bobby admitted his
guilt and mused about what would be
come of him, fearful because he hadn’t
found the “path of righteousness.” But
at 35, he could scan his 15 years on
death row and note the moment he re
alized his own self-worth and the worth
of each member of mankind. I believed
him when he said that he was truly re
pentant of his crime.
Bobby was a remarkable man in his
own right. He had fostered hundreds of
friendships through letters — letters, he
said, enabled him to “travel, learn,
grow, come to understand, share,
dream, escape and live.” He believed
letters to be “personal and limitless,
only held back by our own fears, lines,
walls, barriers and limitations.”
But Bobby didn’t choose to share his
last moment with those he previously
had shared so much. He chose me,
knowing I had supported capital punish
ment in the past and that my sincere
hunger for insight into the system was
more than mere curiosity. He ultimately
placed his life into my hands, vesting all
of his hopes in a college kid.
Yesterday I received a letter from Bob
by, mailed nearly one week after his
death. I agree with the sentiment he
penned, “Sometimes words belittle the
moment, fall way short of expressing the
feelings inside or fail to paint the neces
sary picture in one’s mind’s eye.”
For information: Texas Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 70314
Houston, Texas 77270
(713)523-8454
e-mail: TCADP@adelante.com
Contact Carol Buntion and tell her
Bobby sent you.
Innocent lives fall victim
to death penalty system
r'
R ichard C. Dieter said, “Instead of
confronting the twin crises of the
economy and violence, politi
cians offer the death penalty as if it
were a meaningful solution to crime.”
These words welcome visitors to the
Abolition Now Web site.
The focus of this group is one that war
rants nationwide attention. The purpose is
the eradication of the death penalty.
Capital punishment is one of the most
Draconian remnants of American justice.
It yields to the old adage, “an eye for an
aye.’’ Only this is perhaps the sole portion of this ar
chaic system of beliefs that still plagues our nation.
The death penalty remains one of the most hotly
debated issues in modern America. It is perhaps the
most divisive debate aside from abortion. The burn
ing question that drives the discussion: who has the
right to determine who should die?
The American justice system serves as a self-pro
claimed model by which the rest of the world should
be judged. And while, for the most part, the system is
more civilized and democratic than most nations,
that does not mean there is no need for improve
ment. There are glitches in the system —- and some
mistakes simply are not acceptable.
For centuries, opposition to capital punishment
has been voiced both in the United States and
abroad, and not just by activists and radicals. People
on all levels of society have been tormented by capital
punishment and what it means to a society.
Early 20th century French philosopher and Nobel
Prize Laureate Albert Camus said capital punishment
is the “most premeditated of murders.” He said the
only way to compare its horrors to a criminal act
would require "a criminal who had warned his victim
of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death
on him and who, from that moment onward, had
confined him at his mercy for months.”
The fact that the death penalty does encourage so
much discourse and philosophical soul-searching
should indicate that perhaps this is not an issue that a
society has the right to make. Along with the death
penalty comes many difficult questions such as who
decides what crimes “deserve” death. And if Ameri
cans are to rely on a jury system of justice, is it fair to
ask a jury to take away another person’s life? The psy
chological ramifications of being accountable for
such a decision must be considered.
More than likely, questions like these will never
find definitive answers, yet the United States contin-
.. . ues to rely on the death penalty as a legitimate form of
1 punishment. In fact, the number of executions is
reaching new heights. Since the reinstatement of the
death penalty in the mid-1970s, more than 300 people
have been executed in the United States. The jumps
are alarming. Between 1977 and 1982, there were only
two executions each year. The numbers grew, with
1993 and 1994 seeing 38 and 31 persons executed, re
spectively. In 1995, the number of executions in the
United States reached 56. This year, it seems Texas
alone could reach numbers such as these.
Proponents of the death penalty worry about the
costs of keeping capital criminals in jail for life. But
tvhat about the costs of killing innocent people,
something which has certainly happened in the his-
Columnist
«r-
Mandy Cater
Senior psychology major
toiy of American justice. There is no dollar
amount that can be placed on a human life.
Amnesty International reports 15 people
executed despite evidence of innocence
just since 1976, and another 10 seemingly
innocent people still on death row.
A recent report by the Death Penalty In
formation Center (DPCI) said, “The current
emphasis on faster executions, less re
sources for the defense and an expansion in
the number of death cases mean that the
execution of innocent people is inevitable.”
Conclusions like this simply are not ac
ceptable in a civilized society. The DPCI report found
that “69 people have been released from death row
since 1973, upon evidence of their innocence.” One
can only wonder how many of the more than 3,200
men and women currently on death row have had
their lives stolen due to a lack of resources or trial error.
Even the American Bar Association realizes
the inherent problems with a system that allows
capital punishment. In February, the group’s
House of Delegates called for a nationwide mora
torium on the death penalty. If the ABA, the most
prestigious accrediting body in the legal profes
sion calls for a change in justice, lawmakers and
citizens alike should listen.
This is not merely some liberal, “soft on crime”
idea. This is about ensuring that innocent Americans
are not murdered at the hands of their own justice
system. If just one innocent life is taken, is the death
penalty really worth it?
The death penalty is litde more than a scare tactic
that does not work. Executing serious criminals is
merely a result of lawmakers with too little creativity
to implement real legislation, or simply who care too
little to try. Before people are allowed to vote on legis
lation that includes capital punishment or sit in a
jury box with another person’s life in their hands,
they should be forced to see what their decision will
really mean. In other words, there should be a
mandatory wimessing of an actual execution. They
should have to watch as someone’s flesh burns in an
electric chair in Florida or as a firing squad in Utah or
Idaho blasts an inmate with bullets.
If people are going to play God and appoint them
selves the judges, giving themselves the power of tak
ing another person’s life, they should be prepared to
fully comprehend the heinous repercussions of their
decisions. As the number of inmates killed continues
to climb, Americans should reflect upon another dark
time in our past, when the power of life and death
ravaged the innocents of Salem, Mass.
When a society is in turmoil, paranoia and des
peration for change often blind us to the reality of
our decisions. Capital punishment is a scar on the
face of American justice, and something must be
done to curtail the problem. America claims to be a
civilized, democratic nation; it is time that claim is
supported by action.
David Lee Powell, an inmate of the Ellis I Unit in
Huntsville, was sentenced to death in 1978. His words
should haunt anyone who claims to believe in the
ideals of America:
“The act of murder is an admission of one’s inabili
ty to solve a dilemma in any other way. The state of
Texas solves its problems with lethal injections.”
UPS strike needs resolution;
hinders local-area business
Opinion Editor
F or over 25 years, the United Parcel
Service has provided services to mil
lions of people and businesses. From
those highly anticipated care packages
that college students receive from their
parents to medical supply shipments for
hospitals and clinics, UPS seems to have
been one of the most respected shipping
companies in existence.
Until recently, no big complaints have
been made toward the company, other
than the usual problems that every delivery
company faces on a daily basis, such as
misplacing an item or having it delivered to the
wrong address.
But Sunday, at midnight, the Teamsters organized
what is probably going to be known as one of the
most devastating strikes toward domestic and foreign
country shipping. The problem with this strike does
not lie in the action itself, but the repercussions it will
have on people and businesses internationally.
Packages that were in midstride of being deliv
ered before the strike are now at a standstill. Al
though some of these shipments might only have
been personal deliveries, such as the aforemen
tioned care packages, a lot of them have the poten
tial to be much more important; life-saving med
ical equipment cannot be held up for the politics of
a company strike.
This strike, however, might turn into a more esca
lated situation than what most people expect. UPS
workers are not going to simply drop their strike
when they get a pay raise; the conditions of the strike
are much more complex.
In addition to better pay, the Teamsters have de
manded better safety standards, more full-time jobs
and an end to subcontracting. These requests are go
ing to take more than just a couple of meetings with
company directors and union presidents. This strike
poses a great danger to people in the Bryan-College
Station area, as well.
Kenny Martin, director of Material Services for St.
Joseph Regional Health Center, said UPS plays a sig
nificant role in shipping for the center.
“We receive about 100 different packages a day
from them,” Martin said.
On Monday, Martin said the center only received
26 items, but these were for the services requested;
nothing had been omitted to Martin’s knowledge.
With all of the discussions going on about the
strike, Martin said he hopes UPS will continue to
honor its decision to attempt to ship supplies to
medical facilities.
“They’re saying they’re going to deliver to the hos
pitals, and give them priority,” he said. “I don’t know
how long that will go on.”
No matter what the outcome of the strike, Martin
said he does not want to take sides with either party.
“I hope they get something resolved that is satis
factory to everybody,” he said.
Because of die strike, local businesses have had to
rely on other shipping and delivery options. Martin
said, no matter what happens, medical supplies for pa
tients are the most important things being considered.
“Even though it may cost us more, we can’t run the
risk with patient-related items,” he said. “We have to
make sure patient care is top priority.”
But the trouble with the strike doesn’t only pertain to
James Francis
Junior English major
medical shipments. If students think that
they cannot identify with the problems of
medical shipments, they should contemplate
how they would like to start a new semester of
school with no back-to-school clothing. Area
clothing stores will also feel the pinch of this
strike. An individual only has to go to the mall
to realize that this is true.
Jessica Garner, a sophomore psychology
major and senior assistant manager at
County Seat in Post Oak Mall, said UPS is
an important factor in the daily events of
many clothing stores.
“We ship out all of our damaged and old merchan
dise to outlet centers through UPS,” Garner said.
“There are other ways, but we have a long-standing
relationship with UPS.”
Garner said County Seat has approximately 700
stores, including outlet facilities. She said she heard
about the strike on the news and in passing, but the
situation hasn’t affected how she or other workers
^ ^ They say they are going
to deliver to the hospitals
and give them top priority ...
I don’t know how long that
will go on.”
Kenny Martin
Director of Material Services
St. Joseph Regional Health Center
feel about the UPS worker who handles the store’s
business; workers affectionately call him Dwayne,
“the mall UPS guy.”
“Our UPS man is hilarious,” Garner said. “He just
comes in and has a good time.”
One of the biggest priorities for anyone who
works in sales is the paycheck. For Garner, she
said she hopes UPS comes to some sort of agree
ment before any problems arise surrounding her
own compensation.
“We get our mailbag,” Garner said, “which carries
our paychecks through UPS.”
But just as is the case with St. Joseph’s, County Seat
also uses other carriers, such as Federal Express and
special dispatch.
Garner also said it is extremely bad timing for
the strike to take place before stores start their
back-to-school sales and shipments; this is where
the “peak season starts.”
“I think everything is going to get backed up; peo
ple will be frustrated,” Garner said. “I think it’s going
to be detrimental to the whole mall.”
What everyone must realize is that this strike is not
only national and it not only deals with big business
es. The Teamsters strike against UPS is a situation
where more people are involved and harmed than
most people would believe. Hopefully, some agree
ment can be reached, and with a little luck, both sides
can be satisfied with the outcome.