It Rhymes with Breath, as in Last

I totally agree with this post by Peggy Bird on Open Salon, when she states that death is the last taboo of American culture.  Heck, sex is all over the place.  You just have to watch a news report on Charlie Sheen and there's prostitutes, drugs and violence all rolled into one overpaid, overcelebrated mess of a man.  And we eat this stuff up.  Don't believe me? Snooki from The Jersey Shore was paid $32,000 buckaroonees to speak at Rutgers.  Her words of wisdom to the college crowd?  Study hard, but party harder. Wow, her parents must be so proud.

Okay, I digress, which I'm prone to do.  Sorry.  Back to death.

I've noticed that when I speak of my manuscript, people will lower their voices as if we are engaging in an illicit conversation.  For some, there may be a superstitious fear that if they acknowledge death, that it will find them.  I used to belong to this group.  If I don't think about it, perhaps it will just go away.  Well, we all know that that's not really an option.

But, avoiding those that are dying is fairly easy to do.  For most people, death occurs in a hospital or an assisted living facility, although there is a growing resurgence of people opting to spend their last days at home.  Unless you work in one of those facilities, you don't face it.  If it happens to someone you know and love, of course you are touched by it and you have to face the truth that most of us would rather deny.  Death happens.  It happens to old people, young people, mothers, fathers, children, pets, sisters, brothers, everybody.  It even happens to people we don't particularly like.

Which brings me to people who happen to be on death row.  If anyone's death is kept behind closed doors and hidden from the public, it is the men and women who are facing execution by the government.  It's easy not to think about executions.  Why?

Because it happens to other people, not to good people like us. 
Those people are getting what they deserve. It's justice.
I don't have time.
I don't want to think about it.
I don't know enough to join the discussion.

But the truth of the matter is, innocent people have been executed.  And yes, so have not so innocent people.  But my question to you dear reader is this, if our culture can't openly discuss death without lowering our voices or running away in fear, how can we allow our government to dole out death sentences and carry out that punishment when the average citizen can't even talk about death in general?

I encourage everyone to engage in this conversation.  State sanctioned killing is a big issue and the more you learn about it, the more confusing it becomes, but in my opinion, it's something we should all be talking about.

The Cush Life of a Death Row Inmate

Now that I've been blogging and commenting on the Dallas Morning News' Death Penalty Blog, I have been doing a lot of research on the internet and in person to see how people formulate their opinions on this issue.  And this is a pretty big issue, but I don't think your average everyday citizen has given it much thought.  It's kind of like you wouldn't think about the safety of child car seats if you didn't have a child.  Most people confront this issue when it becomes personal.  For me, it was meeting Khristian Oliver and you can read all about my experience with him when my essay Surrender appears in Ten Spurs out of UNT this summer.  Or you can read older posts on this here blog.

Anyway, let's move on.

Instead of a sentence of death, I'm all for Life Without Parole as the option for the most heinous crimes.  From what I learned at the Alternative Spring Break, the death penalty is three times more expensive than lifetime incarceration in a maximum security prison.  So, what's the problem then?  Why do certain people still want to kill people who have killed people to deter people from killing more people?  Do people really think that life in prison is some sort of spa?  I saw a laughably bad interview on Fox News from a lawyer who got a tour of death row and he saw an inmate "sleeping like a baby" with a Hershey's bar on his desk.  The man couldn't believe that this person had access to chocolate.  It was his belief that we are supposed to be PUNISHING these people, so why are they allowed to sleep and eat candy bars?  Well, I don't know about you, but spending 23 hours a day in a tiny cell doesn't sound all that fun. In fact, it might induce depression which could lead to sleep, but that's just the human in me saying that.

So, if you are interested in seeing the living conditions of a Texas death row inmate, here's a great blog written by none other than a death row inmate named Thomas Whitaker.  And no, he doesn't have a camera and internet access.  He does it all through letters written the old fashioned way and the photos were provided via the Freedom of Information Act.

And just so you know, they don't hand out sleep number mattresses, down pillows or candy bars to the inmates.  They are allowed to purchase items from the commissary.  That is if they have money placed on their books by a friend or a family member.  Many don't.  I know, I know.  It serves them right. 

Anyway, I just thought I'd give you a little behind the scenes look at Texas' death row.

Alternative Spring Break in Austin

This past week, I ventured down to Austin to write about the Alternative Spring Break for the Death Penalty Blog on the Dallas Morning News.  You can read all about the event on that blog and if you feel so inclined, please post your thoughts about the death penalty in America.  As of this writing, there are only about 3 active participants posting there, one of whom is kind of monopolizing the conversation.  Yes, you will have to register your name and email on the site to post, but it's not like they are going to spam you or make you pay a fee to join the conversation.  It's free.  Free speech, what a concept!

In the week that I was there, I went from being an essayist to an activist, simply because I used the power of my cheapo laptop to write about something I had sort of a personal interest in. I have been called naive, stupid, a zealot--this was on some guy's Tea party site--um pot calling kettle black, don't ya think?

I realize that people have strong opinions on the death penalty.  The pro people think that if you kill a murderer, he or she can't murder again.  I propose that incarceration does the same thing.  Then they refute with, why should taxpayers pay for three hots and a cot to a murderer? I then say that execution costs almost three times as much as housing a person for life in a maximum security facility.  They then say we should just shorten the appeals process and just shoot them because the lethal injection drugs aren't being supplied to the US anymore. 

It goes back and forth and back and forth.  I'm exhausted from the arguing.  If you're against execution, they think you're soft on crime and criminals.  But the thing is, I'm not.  I just happen to think that our government shouldn't kill people.  It's barbaric.  Our judicial system is flawed.  Some people based on the color of their skin or their economic status become the victims of this inequality.  You won't find many rich people on death row.  Do rich people commit less murder?  Well, you won't find them robbing a liquor store, but they have been known to kill their spouses or parents or children.   

I think what gets lost in this debate is that we are talking about real people.  It's quite easy to fear what you don't know.  What I suggest for anyone who is questioning their stance on this issue, is to do your research.  You could also become a penpal with someone who is incarcerated on death row. I'm not telling you to become their best friend or forgive them for their actions.  It's just a quick and easy way to bring a face and a heartbeat to an individual who has been demonized.  I realize these men and women did not afford their victim this same courtesy, but if we continue this cycle of violence, are we any better?

Okay, well tell me what you think.