Dan Peitzmeyer

AZ I See It

Arizonans will save money if it nixes executions and keeps people behind bars for life

Opposition to the death penalty is not being %22soft on crime%22

It is time to change the culture of death in Arizona

The "What if..." on last Sunday's Opinions page certainly caught my attention ("What if Arizona repealed the death penalty?")

I thought Bishop Thomas Olmsted's response mild.

Other Catholic religious leaders have encouraged participation in efforts to suspend and abolish Arizona's death penalty, to relegate it to the boneyards of history along with child labor, indentured servitude and slavery, stating unequivocally that capital punishment has no place in our civilized world.

I found Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery's statement to be exactly what one might expect from an elected prosecutor.

Supreme Court justices Lewis Powell, Potter Stewart and John Paul Stevens believe arbitrariness in the imposition of the death penalty is prohibited by the Constitution. One source of arbitrariness is the decision of prosecutors to seek a death sentence. It is a discretionary call that may be influenced by the prosecutor's estimate of the impact of his decision on his chances for re-election or for election to higher office.

Arizonans will save money. Attempting to execute is many times more expensive than incarcerating for life. Consider the increased cost of the trial (two attorneys, expert witnesses, complex investigations) and the expense of solitary confinement.

Opposition to state executions is not being "soft on crime" but rather is being smart on crime. Our limited financial resources can be directed to greater priorities: hiring more police, reopening unsolved crimes, rehabilitating offenders, improving treatment programs and intervening with troubled youths.

Arizonans will eliminate the possibility of executing an innocent man. According to a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, about one in 25 people imprisoned under a death sentence is likely innocent. Life without parole is more humane and does not put Arizona in the position of playing God and taking life.

Arizonans will no longer carry the angst of our judicial system. The spiritual and psychological burden of capital punishment will be lifted from the jurors, guards, executioners and indeed all citizens. Although state executions are within the law, they represent the collective failure of our moral compass and a clinging to the archaic vestiges of the hangman's gallows. It is a tragic and monumental failure in every respect. Most major faith communities, including the Catholic Church, oppose the death penalty.

Arizonans will realize that stopping state-sponsored killing creates an environment for healing for the victim's family and does not offer "discounted justice," as mentioned by Mr. Montgomery. Moreover, it does not create more victims among the perpetrator's family. Violence begets violence; so, too, does compassion beget compassion. States without capital punishment have a lower rate of capital crime.

Arizonans will be proud of our leadership for displaying courage to the nation and the world as we join the other 32 states and most of the first-world nations who have outlawed this barbaric, ineffective and costly practice. It is time to change the culture of death in Arizona.

I ask you to join Death Penalty Alternatives, Pax Christi, the Arizona Ecumenical Council and other concerned citizens as we stand in vigil in the Capitol courtyard on the eve of the next scheduled execution.

Dan Peitzmeyer is president of Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona.