Posted on 02/22/2020 3:28:59 AM PST by Kaslin
He killed his grandmother. And he did so brutally, dumping her in the water before she was even dead, if the coroner is correct that her cause of death was drowning. He killed two others -- all evil acts. And then once in prison, he managed to kill a fellow inmate. So, I get why the governor of Tennessee refused to grant Nick Sutton clemency when the time came for his execution and final appeals.
But no one was asking for the man to be released. Instead, people -- including prison staff and the sister of the inmate he killed -- were advocating for Sutton's life. In the 34 years since he had been on death row, Sutton had done what you would hope would happen in prison. He changed. He started caring about others. Based on his last words, he became a man of faith. He even saved the lives of prison staff when inmates got violent. One former corrections officer whose life Sutton saved said in a plea to the governor that if Sutton were released from prison tomorrow, he would welcome Sutton in his home and as a neighbor.
Yes, Sutton's crimes were evil. They were also committed by a teenager whose mother abandoned him and whose father abused him. Reports indicated that as a child, his father introduced Sutton to drugs. Sutton's father later committed suicide.
It's all so miserable. And even more so, of course, for the families of those Sutton killed all those years ago. On social media, I saw a lot of burn-in-hell, this-should-have-happened-years-ago kind of comments. I couldn't help but think about mercy. Justice is crucial. But so is mercy. To have the civic and moral imagination to care that a person who has done heinous things may actually be a person whose life has value -- the kind of value he didn't see in others -- seems to be an important thing.
This all happened around the fifth anniversary of the mostly Coptic Christian Egyptian men who were beheaded on the shores of Libya by ISIS militants. I thought of this because the families of those martyrs publicly forgave the terrorists and are praying for their conversion. We do see this radical forgiveness closer to home, too -- after the Charleston church shooting in 2015, for instance.
There's something about the ritual of executing prisoners in America that is dehumanizing to more than the prisoner who is killed.
Sutton was the 1,156th person executed in the United States since 1976. These state-sanctioned executions are a poison in our law and culture. They insist that more violence and death are good, that they solve a problem. We pretend that they will be a civilizing influence or a deterrent. But I doubt that the next Nick Sutton born of similar circumstances will be swayed by the prospect of the death penalty -- his life is already a living death.
People respond to love. Mercy is for the guilty. We can't look callous in these circumstances, or our arguments about the life of the most innocent might not be heard. I understand why Sutton was not granted clemency, but Sutton's life and death should prompt an examination of conscience that could bring a lot of people of good will -- those strange "pro-life" and "social justice" divides -- together.
This sentence should have been carried out within five years of the crime. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
As for brutality, criminal executions are merciful compared to to
the brutality of abortions, committed on the most innocent among us.
hey could always ask for people to let him live with them.
He deserved death.
That’s true.
Who then should have executed him? Are you saying he didn’t deserve to be executed? Me and my family would disagree.
I think I expected sarcasm where there wasn’t any. Sorry. I guess we’re on the same page then.
We are on the same page.
You take the prize for willful blindness. This guy continued killing even behind bars. As long as he drew breath, he posed a threat to society. Now, he does not.
If he was truly converted then he has the forgiveness that matters. God’s forgiveness does not preclude just temporal punishment. It means salvation for the soul.
It is interesting that Jesus Christ didn’t rail against the death penalty. Give long speeches about how you shouldn’t destroy one of God’s greatest creations. Speak about how innocent He was. Or more so - defend the thieves along side of him.
It sounds like Sutton let Jesus save him finally. I’m hoping he helped a lot of others in prison before he was finally sent home to the Lord.
34 years on death row? He should have been executed 33 years ago.
It sounds as though you were directly affected. If your loved one was killed in the explosion, that is hideous and I am so sorry.
Timothy McVey was a pawn in some sick government game. The race to execute him was appalling and frightening. Public or private government executions, however, are coarse and insupportable. While you may be saying “he got what he deserved” it says something horrible about us as a society.
Oh puleez
He murdered 4 people, death is the answer and it should have happened 34 years earlier.
No sympathy whatsoever.
I ‘disagree’ that state-sanctioned executions are a poison in our law and culture, as the author states.
The problem is an endless line of state-sponsored appeals and justice not quickly carried out. Further there’s lots of people who’ve been raised in unstable homes while growing up who don’t go out and kill people...Additionally put a person in jail you can be assured over time they’re going to improve to some degree.
The only worse thing about someone that murders another human being is having a guilty conscience about it. But if you confess your sins and give your soul to Jesus that is at least a consolation. Won’t bring anyone back and the sentence still needs to be carried out but if I knew that the person that murdered my love one or ones repented then it would bring some comfort. It all started with the forbidden fruit.
Wrong thinking. What is dehumanizing is a civilization that has no sense of justice. Roger Stone can get a 3-year sentence for a supposed crime he committed yet McCabe and Comey are not even charged for actually committing the same crime. Where is justice these days?
This man killed those people and he should pay for his crime no matter how he might have turned his life around in prison. And, if he is a true believer, then he knows that this is not the end but only the beginning.
Peter said it best: Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler (1 Peter 4:15)
Ping
The four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy.
I do agree that he was a pawn on many fronts. But he did participate in the murder of my mom and 170 others including the three unborn babies. For that he did deserve to be executed. My forgiveness and justice are two different things. I forgave those involved a long time ago. But the New Testament is not anti capital punishment.
Any imprisoned murderer can kill other inmates or guards - or they could escape and kill again.
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