Saturday, May 16, 2015
Tsarnaev execution
The last legal public hanging in North Dakota occurred in
March, 1903 at the town of Bottineau. The jury deliberated for an hour
and fifteen minutes before finding the defendant guilty of murdering Thomas
Walsh in his sleep because he wanted his horse. He stole 3 of Walsh's
horses afterward. The murderer was 30 years old, married, and a
father of several children. He spent his last days praying and in the end
said he was redeemed and ready for the "great adventure". A large
crowd had gathered for the execution. One account describes how a priest held a
crucifix to the murderer's lips while the latter kissed it. “The black
cap was pulled down, the signal given. Sheriff Gardner pulled
the lever and the trap door dropped. He went down like a shot. His neck
was broken, the report being plainly heard."
So ended the life of my great great uncle, one William
Robert Ross (aka Willie or Billy Bob). Ross feared that, if not hanged, he
would return to his old criminal ways. What was gained by executing Billy
Bob, a man who claimed to fear living and was ready for death? At least
in those days there were no appeals, no long, expensive years on death
row. For such a cold-blooded murderer it seems that life in prison would
have been a more appropriate punishment. Our blood-lust and cult of
revenge has deep roots. Collectively, we are a mean-spirited people that
committed genocide against Native Americans, lynched black men by the
hundreds, are unwilling to give up our guns, and too damned willing to go
to war. We have yet to become fully civilized.
The death penalty for Boston bomber,
Anzor Tsarnaev, is only the most recent evidence our desire to exact revenge,
no matter what the costs. Wouldn’t life in prison for Tsarnaev have been
substantial enough of a punishment? We
are high on the list of countries that execute criminals, a distinction we
share with China, Iran, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia. As the wealthiest, most powerful, and, supposedly,
most civilized country in history, is this the cohort with which we wish to be
associated? We have now created a new
martyr for terrorists to use to promote their violence and to recruit other
young men and women into their fold.
5-16-15
# posted by Rockdoc @ 9:21 AM 
