Comments on: Death Not So Different?

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 30 May 2007 16:51:45 +0000

With respect to Frank’s and Mark’s thoughts about secularization and the death penalty, I’m inclined to think that “secularization” might work in two very different ways: On the one hand, as Frank notes, the waning of a belief in afterlife rewards-and-punishments removes the reason to say, “don’t execute wrongdoers, but give them the opportunity to reflect and repent.” On the other hand, there’s also a sense in which secularization fuels abolition: If “this is all there is”, then the death penalty becomes all the more ultimate.

All that said, I’m not sure the facts Frank points to are enough to call into question the basic “death is different” idea which, it seems to me, is still well entrenched in our law and culture.

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:41:52 +0000

Orin, yes, perhaps the idea now is that the system is reliable enough to isolate the worst offenses, so we needn't be as focused in meting them out. But the work of my colleague Michael Risinger, cited here, leaves me a bit worried that that perception is unwarranted.

By: Orin Kerr

Orin Kerr — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:35:44 +0000

Frank,

It’s also interesting that executions are actually occurring at their lowest rate in decades. Perhaps the blurring of lines has to do with how rarely the death penalty is actually imposed?

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 30 May 2007 00:14:09 +0000

Mark, that's a very interesting comment, which reminds me of this post of mine (and Nate's reply) from last year. I suppose I would respond that the religious case for the death penalty really mystifies me, particularly given the frequency with which we are warned not to "play God." But the Rev. Dr. Allen Dwight Callahan notes the duality of the Christian tradition on this and other social justice issues in an interview aired here.

By: Mark McKenna

Mark McKenna — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:54:55 +0000

Frank -

It’s interesting that you’re inclined to trace the increasing scope of capital punishment to increasing secularization. The states that are the most in pro-death penalty tend also to be southern states, which are probably the places where Christian conservatism is strongest. So I’d actually draw the opposite conclusion – the particular form of Christianity that is most politically active right now is probably pushing the trend.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:28:16 +0000

I don’t know that it makes too much difference to your post but I’m pretty sure that China has used the death penalty for major economic crime (both government corruption and other white-collar crime) for quite a while.