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When the State Kills by Austin Sarat Frankly speaking, the only phrase the state kills itself provokes many thoughts, doubts and discussions. Generally, focusing on this problem generates a lot of ideas. From the one hand, a humans life is the biggest value in this wonderful world. From the other hand, those people who breaks the laws must be responsible for their deeds. Of course, telling this I mean not only the official laws, firmed by the Constitution, but perhaps some moral principles and social laws. Somebody can call such people morally depraved person or malefactor, criminal But, however, the truth is that nobody is identical with another and some people are just do not feel any frameworks on what they can do in their life and in communication with people in general and what not.
Such a serious topic merits more detailed consideration of some of its rather significant aspects. To my mind, the only existence of capital punishment is like a mirror of the criminal justice system and, what is much more important, of our society. Perhaps it even reflects our society. Recently Ive read a book, written by Austin Sarat, one of the most prominent writers and teachers concerning the relationship between law and society of the United States of America. He is one of the most active professors in scholarly organizations the nation. The book Ive read was titled When the State Kills, it is one of his most recent projects.
So, the book has a specific title and is specific itself, but I must say I enjoyed it. The author covered some interesting questions of the problem of capital punishment. Among such one can outline a chapter named Capital Punishment and the Technologies for Taking Life and the another one Capital Trials and the Ordinary World of State Killing. As a matter of fact, a capital punishment nowadays in many cases does not holds people back from murder.
There is also a great risk to execute innocent people. I am sure, such questions existed also many centuries ago, but nowadays such old disputes were put in a new light again. Analysing the capital punishment in America one can first of all notice that in many countries the capital punishment is already prohibited and abolished. So, why is it so in the United States? And how can the government decide if a person really deserve to die or not?
Thus, it is clear seen that the state has a right to kill its citizens. Here begins the discussion. All stated above can make us to become indignant and say What a recklessness! What an inhumanity!
But, just thinking for some minutes it is possible to make a conclusion that some people really deserve to be punished in such a cruel way. (For example, it may be a cold-blooded killer, who is seemed not to have a soul and a clear mind at all and whose horrible deeds and violent crimes are very hard to be understood. ) But lets not forget, that such actions are to be done by the state, which proclaimed humans life as a best value. Personally I dont agree with the statement, that killing a person in a prison, using an execution by poison gas, electrocution, lethal injection, hanging and firing would be so dreadful penalty for the prisoner as someone wants him to be imposed upon. Maybe it would sound strange, but I think that the sufferings the criminal would experience for some minutes can be named light penalty. Why? , you may ask. Well, because just imaging and comparing such a quick death with, for example, life-term imprisonment it gradually becomes clear what is more terrible. In some way it is a question of a human psyche.
As it was already said little-bit earlier, over half of the nations of the world have abolished capital punishment. That is a difficult question today for the United States. Perhaps, in such way the state still tries to protect and to fights for the rights of a victim. But in such way the innocent victim easily turns in the evildoer. Thus, the innocent victim does not have any differences from its offender. After that it is possible to say that the victim and the criminal as though become similar, being now on an equal footing.
That is not a reasonable thing, I suppose. But, however, capital punishment shall exist up to that moment when the humanity shall lose its desire of revenge after being treated badly. Such moments of the human mind are difficult for understanding, but they are also very difficult and too simple at the same time. Moreover, I am sure that those victims, which demand capital punishment for their offender, in most cases do not understand that what an evil thing they are doing and, of course, they even may not understand that they are being driven by a strange feeling a need of revenge, an unconquerable desire to retaliate, if it is possible to say so in this situation. So the unseen border between the evildoer and the innocent can easily disappear. Professor Sarat in his discussion also gives his terming of modern technologies, which are widely used in todays capital punishment.
The author touches upon the fact, that the United States had already made an attempt to change the process of execution. They tried to save a criminal from suffering of the act of execution and to turn executions into a painless experience, something, what could be named allegedly humane. But let us bring our attention on a fact, that, inventing such an easy and painless method of killing the people, shall we use it? It can mean, that such killing is merciful and harmless! Moreover, professor Sarat outlines, that by turning executions in something more humane and, perhaps, more technologically advanced, the sanctioning and civilizing of capital punishment will take place. Is that acceptably?
Well, that is a topic for another long discussion, but one thing must be said unambiguously: such idea of killing shows the attempts of government to reinforce and refresh the horrible view that capital punishment must take place and that it is desirable, valid, benevolent and merciful. Accordingly, it is worth thinking about the benefit of killing softly. Finally, I shall admit that reading this book was an edifying experience for me. Bibliography: Sarat, Austin. When the State Kills: Capital Punishment and the American Condition. Princetown, New Jersey: Princetown University Press, 2002.
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