Most civilized nations have outlawed the death penalty because it is considered cruel and inhumane, and studies show it does not deter crime. In the United States, 23 states have abolished the death penalty. The three states with the highest murder rates impose the death penalty, while many states without the death penalty have low murder rates — including Massachusetts, Hawaii, Maine and Iowa.
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that in the United States, at least 200 hundred people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death have been exonerated since 1973. For every eight people executed in our nation, one person on death row has been exonerated. Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard-educated attorney, founded an organization that investigates wrongful death convictions. He discovered that the death sentence is often imposed on poor people who cannot afford to hire an effective attorney and is often imposed on Black men who are accused of killing white women.
If we believe that we need to kill a perpetrator for the victim’s family to find closure, we need to reevaluate our fundamental concepts of justice and mercy. My 12-year-old sister was killed after a drunk driver plowed into her when she was walking on a sidewalk as she returned home from a church activity. My father held her in his arms when she died. The loss was profound and devastating, and yet part of our families’ healing was in forgiving the driver. I am grateful I grew up in a home where forgiveness was modeled because that is a path to peace.
As Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” If our state believes we must end someone’s life to achieve justice, we need to reevaluate how much we value life. Executing someone who has murdered another repeats the cycle of violence. We must also realize that children who grow up in highly abusive homes too often perpetuate the abuse either in their own families or in society at large.
Researchers at the Death Penalty Information Center — a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that studies capital punishment have found that among those executed, more than one-third had suffered a brain injury or had an intellectual disability, while nearly 2 in 5 were diagnosed with a severe mental illness. Almost two-thirds experienced extensive trauma as children. We need to care about these kids as much as we care about major league hockey and baseball. For decades, Utah has had high rates of child sexual abuse. Research at Utah State University reveals that thousands of Utah children — approximately 1 in 7 — are sexually abused each year. As a former educator at the Rape Recovery Center, I discovered firsthand that too many youth perpetrators do not know anything about consent or the long-term effects of their crimes.
Recently, a 12-year-old Utah boy, Gavin Peterson, was found starved to death after years of horrific abuse. School employees filed multiple complaints with the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, yet nothing was done to protect the child.
We as a state must work harder to protect and educate our children to stop the cycles of violence, sexual abuse and crime.
Utah’s religious and secular institutions need to reevaluate whether it is moral for our state to kill others. We as citizens also need to be concerned when we hear people being dehumanized, whether they are called animals, monsters or other foul objects because this language justifies violence and exclusion of people from moral protection.
When the state of Utah decides to terminate the life of prisoners, we need to realize that we are the state. We can and must do better to safeguard children, educate youth and rehabilitate prisoners so that our state can reflect the best of our values and beliefs. Let us begin.
(Carol Rich Brown) Carol Rich Brown, M.Ed., has served as an educator with the Rape Recovery Center and on the Foster Care Citizen Review Board. She has a master’s degree in secondary curriculum development and lives in South Jordan, Utah.
Carol Rich Brown, M.Ed., has served as an educator with the Rape Recovery Center and on the Foster Care Citizen Review Board. She has a master’s degree in secondary curriculum development and lives in South Jordan, Utah.
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Correction • Aug. 26 at 11:55 a.m. • This story has been updated to reflect that, according to The Death Penalty Information Center, at least 200 hundred people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death have been exonerated since 1973.