Imagine if, instead of a turkey, the President made a point each Thanksgiving of pardoning an actual human being. Maybe he could pardon another Troy Davis—somebody whose sentence was shrouded in a cloud of doubt. Maybe he could, at random or with intention, pick a death-row inmate who had below-average legal counsel and commute their sentence to life in prison. Maybe he and thirty-four governors could grant universal clemency to death row inmates—it would save taxpayers money and ameliorate racial injustice in sentencing. Imagine being a death row inmate spending tomorrow envious of a turkey. Suddenly, turkey pardoning is less cute and more stomach turning.
An Op-Ed by Justin Smith a couple days ago calls the presidential pardon a dark parody of our own system. An ostensibly silly tradition makes a mockery of our attempt at justice. The death penalty wastes taxpayer money, is applied unjustly, has no method beyond reproach, and too often sends innocent people to death row. The absurdity of capital punishment is made more absurd by soon-to-be-free poultry.
If that doesn’t make you feel ridiculous, a peek at a map of the countries of the world that do use capital punishment might. No other country in the western industrialized world retains use of capital punishment but we are keeping company with countries that have unfortunate human rights records. Because of the systemic injustices that plague the entire system, because of the expense, because permanent imprisonment is a far better option—the death penalty should be abolished.
