On Sept. 12 the Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee approved firing squads as a method of capital punishment.
In light of the recent Judiciary Committee decision and national events now more than ever is the time to take a look at if Wyoming should have the death penalty.
Dennis and Judy Shepard asked for life without parole for the murderers of their son Matt, an openly gay UW student who was left to die tied to a fence post, when the death penalty was on the table. If a family that lost their son to a hate crime can ask for compassion then so can the general public.
The American capital punishment debate is nothing new. In the 1960’s capital punishment began to lose public support. In 1972 in Furman v. Georgia it was considered cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment. The justices stated it “offends society’s sense of justice” and is not to be used if it is “not more effective than a less severe penalty”. However in the 1976 Gregg decision the death penalty was reinstated and ruled constitutional. Today 32 states, including Wyoming and Colorado, have capital punishment laws.
Wyoming has one death row inmate. Dale Wayne Eaton has sat on death row for a decade and the long legal process is frustrating for both the inmate and the victim’s family. Now with a new legal team, a new decision is expected in early February in light of Eaton’s alleged low IQ and bipolar disorder according to the Billings Gazette.
Those in favor of the death penalty believe that the punishment is fit for the crime. The reinstated laws of 1977 specifically mention that defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Sadly, that is far from the case. In Colorado the Gov. issued a pardon in 2011 for Joe Arridy who was executed in 1939. Arridy had a false confession and an IQ of 46.
Cruel and unusual punishment is still at play as lethal injections are harder to come by and inmates often die after prolonged periods of pain. On July 23 Joseph R. Wood of Arizona gasped for air for over an hour and a half even as his lawyers tried to call Justice Kennedy to postpone his execution. On Sept. 4 former death row inmate Henry McCollum’s lawyer wrote in the Washington Post that even though his client has been proven innocent he is furious that he was allowed to sit on death row “where innocent people can be condemned to die”.
As Wyoming residents and students we can be asked to serve on a jury that considers the death penalty. Our tax dollars can and are used to fund capital punishment. The eye for an eye mentality of capital punishment, by lethal injection or firing squad, is cruel and unusual. At the very least we need to make sure the inmate is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and allow them to die with dignity.
