Death Row Will Continue Unless We Change The Way We Look at Criminals
By: Jalen A. Nash
Tags: Politics, Death Penalty, Empathy, Criminal Justice Reform, Criminal Justice

Brandon Bernard with his family.

Mr. Brandon Bernard was executed by the United States government on December 11th. Mr. Alfred Bourgeois was executed by the United States government on December 12th. Both were killed by lethal injection.

Many are saddened and outraged by the executions. Yet some, considering their crimes, believe the men deserved it.

The death penalty is the most visceral example of state and socially-sanctioned killing. After a seventeen-year hiatus, seventeen men have been executed by the federal or state governments during this year alone (see list here).

Whenever these executions hit the news cycle, we see mass outrage for a time, with some familiar questions asked. Yet, over a century has passed since meaningful actions to abolish the death penalty began in this country. And despite persistent calls to end the practice over decades, these recent executions remind us of our limited progress.

Today, executions continue while more citizens are incarcerated than ever before. Both of these things are connected by the same fundamental belief.

In America, the right to dignity, freedom, life and liberty can be revoked by a judge.

A society that condones state-sanctioned killings has decided that human rights can be given or taken away depending on an individual’s actions. The execution of these men is only one example of this idea in motion, we have cosigned a similar fate to millions of others who we’ve cast aside and labeled as “criminals.”

Over 10 million citizens get arrested every year and about 2.3 million of these people end up incarcerated. Once incarcerated, many report witnessing violence, overcrowding, dangerous living conditions, and abuses of power by officials. Even after the formerly incarcerated are released, many are further traumatized by the experience, suffering from PTSD, depression, and various other health issues.

And while the gradual harm inflicted on the incarcerated may not appear as visceral as direct executions, it can have nearly as destructive an effect.

Prisons in the US are remote and isolated environments by design. The public is aware that injustice exists within prisons; most understand that prisoners live in substandard living conditions and face cruel, inhumane treatment. Many even believe that a fraction of those incarcerated today are innocent or unfairly sentenced.

Yet, our system remains unchanged.

Americans have ultimately decided that if someone commits a crime, they deserve to be locked in a cage and stripped of their rights. The cage’s size and the pick of revoked rights are set to match the severity of the crime.

The death penalty is only an extension of this basic premise. It will exist as long as human rights are conditional.

Instead of rehabilitation, mercy, or justice, we’ve built our criminal justice system on the foundations of punishment, separation, and efficiency.

We express outrage when the state executes prisoners, yet, in so many ways, we allow these systems to continue. We assume that all crimes are immoral and that every sentence is true. We create images of “the criminal” in our minds and make choices to keep those who share a resemblance far, far away from those we love. We glorify mobsters and gangsters in our movies and music while showing contempt and indifference towards the millions of less-famous individuals who are in prisons today.

We see ourselves in our favorite actors, celebrities, musicians, and athletes, yet many refuse to see themselves in the “criminal.” This refusal is as delusional as it is dangerous. The inability of everyday Americans to empathize, show compassion for and see themselves in the “common criminals” experiences is the fatal flaw that enables our violent and punitive criminal justice system.

We cannot abolish the death penalty until we collectively change our perceptions of “criminals” and confirm a commitment to protecting certain unalienable rights… for all, no matter what.

So far, we have failed to do that. Thus, seventeen human beings have been executed by the United States government in 2020.

“He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.”

Our attitudes towards criminals and punishment need to change. Yes, every person should be held accountable for their actions, but justice means more than that. We must advance the conversation, talking about criminal justice in a way that respects an individual’s rights, that is also grounded in mercy and fairness, not retribution.

Until we can do that, America will continue to kill its citizens, both on Death Row and in our prisons.

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Rest in Peace.