Killing a killer
Does the death penalty bring justice?
The debate in the Alfonso Rodriguez case is down to life and death.
The United States Attorney’s Office believes the path to justice is found in killing this repeat criminal and sexual predator.
How exactly does killing someone bring justice? Ending the life of Rodriguez doesn’t give Dru or Rodriguez’s other victims another chance at it.
It’s agreed that Rodriguez should never again be allowed within 100 feet of another woman or child for the rest of his life.
However, the only legitimate reason for the U.S. to sentence Rodriguez to death would be to guarantee that he could never harm another.
But if that is still possible with life in prison, I honestly cannot find a benefit in ordering the death penalty.
As a member of the jury, can someone vote to end a man’s life and go home having done an ethical duty?
For weeks, the jury has been absorbed into every gross detail and heartless act, all the while sitting across the room from the seemingly unremorseful man who committed these crimes.
However, making a decision to put someone to death, based on emotions such as anger and hatred, seems ignorant and unsupported. In fact, that’s exactly what causes most wrongdoings in the first place.
When resorting to the death penalty for justice, it becomes difficult to see exactly who is being punished.
The chance of this sentence passing unanimously only faintly exists, especially with recent testimonies from Rodriguez’s sister, niece and nephew.
He has only recently been deemed “a human being.”
For the first time, emotion has been paired with the man, though the public has never detected it.
The more the jury can relate to Rodriguez, the more likely he will avoid fatality.
It’s much easier on the conscience to order a rapist and murderer to death, as opposed to an uncle who sends money to his sister for Christmas gifts and prepares snacks for his nephew after school.
Jennifer is a graduate student studying architecture.
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum