Columnist Jamala-Rogers
Before his death in 1993, revered Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall warned that if “the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment” were not sufficiently addressed, it would “cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come.” He was absolutely correct.
While US society is still trying to shake off the vestiges of slavery in areas like voting, housing and education, the field of criminal justice – particularly the death penalty – is where the rule of white supremacy remains stark.
The historical path of capital punishment from lynching to lethal injection definitely has its roots in the South. It appears that this form of legal lynching is a value-added campaign issue in any state for those white men seeking higher offices. The research shows that people of color and women are least likely to favor the death penalty, which is why they are frequently struck from juries in death penalty cases.
In 2007, groups like Amnesty International report that the death penalty in America is still practiced as it was during Jim Crow with 80 percent of the African-Americans executed for murdering white victims.
Last week, a panel of judges from the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and therefore is not cruel and unusual punishment.
Before the week was out, Attorney General Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon filed motions for execution dates for ten men on death row. Five were renewed motions put on hold last year after a federal judge halted state executions and the remaining five were new cases. Half of the men are white and the other half are black. Nixon wants us to believe he practices affirmative action in state killings but the truth is that blacks make up a mere 11 percent of Missouri’s population yet represent over 70 percent of death row inmates.
Reggie Clemons is one of those ten inmates for which Atty. Gen. Nixon is seeking execution dates. Since I am the coordinator of his clemency campaign, this is extremely disturbing to me. When the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Reggie’s appeals a few years ago, Nixon again wasted no time in requesting an execution date from the Missouri Supreme Court.
Although Nixon has not officially filed to run for governor, he probably will. He’s already been running a race against Republican Governor Matt Blunt to prove to outstate voters that he has no loyalty to African-Americans – even if they’re Democrats. And in the arena of capital punishment, Nixon has an exemplary record. Few governors, regardless of their party affiliation, have stepped up to grant clemency from execution no matter how compelling the legal facts. And police chiefs, judges and district attorneys have used legal lynching as a stepping stone to higher political aspirations. Supreme Court Justice Marshall anticipated this kind of racist, inhumane practice would overshadow our quest for truth and justice.
Blunt and Nixon should take heed because the pendulum for death is swinging the other way. In the mid-90’s, juries handed out over 300 death sentences. But last year, the number didn’t even break 100. Juries have seen the inherent flaws of the system and don’t want to be co-conspirators. And they certainly don’t want to be cheerleaders for those killing in the pursuit of political gain.
What is the quality of your intent? That piercing question asked by Supreme Court Justice Marshall will have to be answered as Missouri cranks up its death machine for the 2008 gubernatorial election.