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Morals aside, death penalty is flawed

Scott Maxwell | TAKING NAMES

April 19, 2009

All the Nancy Grace devotees must be thrilled to pieces.

Casey Anthony may die.

For nearly a year now, they've eagerly tuned into CNN Headline News every night where they get to ogle titillating party pics of America's worst mother under the thinly veiled guise of "news."

And now, they may get to watch her die.

Scott Maxwell E-mail | Recent columns

Last week's news that the prosecution will seek the death penalty sent online message boards into a joyous frenzy.

"Fry baby Fry!" exclaimed someone named "TWM."

"Bring back the chair. I will pull the switch," said "Grasscutter."

"Justin" directed his fellow celebrants to an online game where they could kill an animated version of Anthony themselves.

"Now you can hang her, inject her or rack her!" he proclaimed.

Welcome to modern-day America, where crime as entertainment is the pastime of choice.

The Romans and their coliseums of death had nothing on us.

Welcome also to America's jury pool.

Lost in all this blood lust is the fact that the death penalty is flawed.

I'll skip over the moral dilemma and leave that to God and his disciples.

Instead, simply look at the facts: This country has executed the innocent.

That's not debatable.

And no rationale — be it revenge or legal strategy — is a valid one to perpetuate such an injustice.

People who have been killed in the name of justice have subsequently been exonerated.

Hundreds more have been sentenced to death, spared only because underpaid activists and lawyers — the truly "pro-life" advocates — worked tirelessly on their behalf.

The latest tally from the Death Penalty Information Center counts 131 people exonerated after conviction.

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