Probing My Brain with a Rusty Nail

Yeah, okay. I didn't really know what kijnd of title to throw up there, so I thought I'd come up with the typical pseudo-weird/cliché title that sounds like I'm some kind of smartass cynic who's trying to be funny. Hmm...

Plus, I just felt like talking about lots of random things that are all over the map, so any kind of unrelated title would do.

Anyhoo...the first item up for bids is the idea that Kentucky put to death a dude convicted of killing a 6 and 7-year old back in 2002, in addition to raping and attempting to kill their mother and older sister while under the influence of drugs. While I'm not unilaterally for or against the death penalty, I think there's a difference between a hardened criminal and a victim of one's own vices. Sometimes people are wired to be psychotic criminals and all the antidepressants in the world couldn't cure them. Other times you just get a gut feeling that some people who may be on death row really have learned their lesson and don't need to die. This guy, Marco Chapman, really grabbed my attenion because he took responsibility for his actions, pleaded with his lawyers to stop appealing his death sentence, and genuinely feels he needs to die for something he did when he wasn't in his right mind.

I hear wisdom in this man's remorse. Something the State of Kentucky and his ex-girlfriend/victim are missing. It's horrible that he killed children and raped their mother, but he's not proud of it, he admits his guilt, he's accepted his fate, and it seems the corrections system has fulfilled its purpose. From the sounds of it, this man's already killed himself inside and he's just waiting for the State to finish off his body. Lethal injection is just a tap on the arm compared to the torture and death Chapman's put himself through in his own heart. That being said, execution seems a bit like beating a dead horse. Corrections facilities are meant to correct criminals, are they not? How in the hell do you correct them by bumping them off? His old ways are far behind him, because he's killed his old self both through imprisonment and impending death. Now there's a chance for life and new possibilities, but nobody's seeing this. Instead, they just want to waste this man and any kind of good he could bring about.

I sympathize with the mother over the loss of her children, but she sickens me for being so blinded by rage and vengeance. She's so unwilling to honor her children's memories by allowing this man a chance to do good and maybe save another woman's children. Nobody sees this. The people who are lobbying for his release also piss me off. They seem to be more concerned about the political ramifications than they are showing grace and mercy to a man humbled by his own sins. Church groups think he shouldn't be executed because he's trying to play God. What the hell? How about not killing him because he's a child of God and he's repentant of his sins? Then other groups are just protesting the death penalty because they think it's inhumane.

The death penalty is useful, in my opinion. It should be used on psychos who only know how to live by preying on others and violating other people's security and safety. The ones who can't be rehabilitated. The ones who, after years of imprisonment, remain a threat to society, just like dogs that are too mean to train. Put humans down just like dogs that can't be retrained. However, don't base the death penalty solely on the crime. Chapman wasn't a mad dog like Charlie Manson. His rampage wasn't due to permanent psychological problems...it was just a temporary freakout due to drugs and alcohol. Someone like that needs help, not death. Why did no one try to help him get over his crime, get over drugs/alcohol, and make him fit for society? His crimes were not pre-meditated, but were part of a drunken rage. The death penalty was inconsistent and unnecessary and happened only because everybody freaked out due to gut reaction to the crime. Our justice system is incredibly flawed--possibly more than the bureaucracy--and Marco Chapman is a martyr. He deserved another chance at life and freedom, but it was denied because people are too selfish and narrow-minded to really accept forgiveness and grace as a way of society. Individual human achievement is a wonderful thing too often eclipsed or nullified by the achievement of many individuals of a mob.