I was in a college course years ago, where the liberal professor polled students about their opinions on the death penalty. She remarked that she was surprised by how I voted, which was against it, knowing that I was among the conservative crowd who regularly sat flanked by military Veterans putting their GI bills to use: in the heckler section.
I didn’t understand her shock, I felt the vote was consistent with pro-life values, of not “playing God,” and the whole “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” part seems hard to do if the government also kills you. To me the question was, ‘Do you pick life or death?’ or alternatively, ‘Should the government kill its citizens?’
Now, I agree that there are valid arguments on both sides, and I don’t see it as a partisan issue in itself. You are going to find pro-lifers that extend that belief beyond innocent children, and unto guilty adults. That belief structure exists.
If we want to keep with a faith-based angle on universal morality, “an eye for an eye,” wins points, too. I don’t know the absolute right answer to every moralistic approach to public policy, and I didn’t in college, either. So, if you’re pro-death penalty, I’m not discrediting all validity in that position. I’m not here to tell you that you are wrong, I’m just inclined to think “limited government” might mean something different than you do. I’m not stuck on being “right,” I’m just hesitant to green-light state-sanctioned industrialized death. Not my favorite use of so-called authority.
But, this was a college classroom poll, and I answered how I answered.
I tell you this to demonstrate that I’m not the first person who would cry foul for an organization or individual taking an anti-death penalty stance. Normally, that would perk my interest. And, if one were to make that argument, it would be advantageous to cite an example of an inmate wrongly convicted, where evidence later exonerated them. Then we could all feel collective shame, and reconsider our positions or processes. Another decent argument might be that some states are having major issues carrying out executions, causing prolonged or unsuccessful outcomes and raising the point of humane treatment. Those are good points to raise.
Instead, the ACLU points to the case of Duane Owen, who was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison in Raiford. Owen brutally raped and murdered 14-year-old Karen Slattery in 1984, as she babysat two young children. Owen stabbed her 18 times. Two months later, Owen raped and murdered again, hitting 38-year-old Georgianna Worden in the head with a hammer multiple times. Owen also has multiple victims who survived his brutal attacks on them.
While a Catholic faith leader penned Governor Ron DeSantis, asking for him to commute the execution based on the “sacredness of human life” (you know, a normal argument), the ACLU argued that the state didn’t afford Owen a medical gender transition. ACLU posted hand-written legal arguments to purport that the serial murderer and rapist was denied the “essence of human dignity” to become “who she was meant to be” before being executed.
And this, my friends, is the worst argument against the death penalty I’ve ever heard, possibly damaging every rational argument on that side of the debate in the process.
Owen was asked if he had any final words, replying, “No.”
Did the 14-year-old get to be who she was meant to be? No.
Did she get to grow into womanhood? No. Duane stole that from her, her loved ones, and the future family she may have had.
Now we are supposed to feel bad that the state didn’t perform cosmetic medical procedures to further support someone to feel a certain way about themselves? No.
Is medical gender transition a fundamental duty of the government, which has already scheduled the inmate’s death? No.
Owen was on death row for 37 years, and maybe that’s a problem in one way or another. I’ll hear those arguments. But, I will not tolerate being told the biggest “crime” against the transgender pedophile serial rapist-murderer was that we didn’t supply him with drugs, procedures, and praise, to boost his self-confidence. No.
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