Ray Cromartie was put to death yesterday in Georgia, despite recent claims as to his innocence as posited to the U.S. Supreme Court in appeal for Stay of Execution. Some people think Ray’s half-brother was lying to save Ray, and who knows for sure? For me, the issue is about the death penalty and how it applies to power, money and influence. I’m no master of logic and am only a regular guy with an opinion, but I’m not afraid to question values in our society.
If you are unfamiliar with the case, here’s a short video to give you some insight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9n2LH4L8U4
Whether a person does or does not 'deserve' death for killing someone isn't the issue. It's the irreversibility of a death sentence. In Child Psychology, Irreversibility is a stage in early child development in which a child falsely believes that actions cannot be reversed or undone. Evidently, this ailment is not limited to children, but is rampant in the criminal justice system where states still have the death penalty.
In the Cromartie case at hand, defense attorneys said that new technology could shed light on the case (DNA testing now available that wasn't available at the time of the crime). It seems obvious to do the tests, but the SC said no? Sure, the law reflects that everyone taking part in a crime leading to a fatality is guilty of the same crime and penalty in Georgia. So it's 'legal' to kill the person who didn't pull the trigger. What a Slippery Slope!
Contemplate the moral ramifications of this line of reasoning. as weighed against those cases where DNA evidence has proven an innocent person was convicted and put to death for a heinous crime. Wouldn't it be a reasonable comparison that people who helped convict the innocent person should likewise, like a getaway driver, be guilty of killing that innocent person who was killed in the Death Chamber?
Sure, 'they didn't mean to' kill an innocent person, but just like the getaway driver who 'didn't mean' for the store clerk to be murdered, a death penalty followed. Bullies also didn’t mean to have their victim commit suicide. I don’t know of any convictions of bullies for Manslaughter or wrongful death in such events.
I bet if investigators, prosecutors, judges, and juries, (let's not fail to mention those bearing false witness to secure lesser penalties in their part of crimes) were liable for killing an innocent person after the fact? You can rest assured law enforcement would be rallying to allow DNA evidence, and higher standards of evidence would be the norm rather than the exception (money buys great representation). The death penalty would suddenly disappear if judges could be held accountable for sentencing innocent people to a death sentence.
As an aside, I read a few YouTube comments by people who justified his death, one saying he raped a 12-year-old girl. I asked for the link showing it was true, but while it's reprehensible, what does it have to do with the facts of this case?
Harsh Truth Follows (language alert): People are 'ate up with the Dumb Ass,' and all I can say is, when anger or fear eats the brain and drives people crazy, people die and it’s ‘justified.’ Ironic that a rich person can ruin thousands of lives through bilking retirement and company assets, but if someone punches someone in the face, they can get 2 to 20 years in a penitentiary rubbing elbows with serious gang-bangers and risk having their asses exploded by rapists, but rich people go play golf in a Minimum Security prison and have their asses pampered.