China does something right

On 7/10/07 the former head of the Food and Drug agency in China was executed after being found guilty of corruption in May. He was sentenced to die on May 29th and had one appeal (denied on 6/12). It seems this former communist party member decided that he wanted a little cash, around $830,000.00 so he approved the use of an untested antibiotic that led to at least 10 deaths. This may sound a little harsh to some, but maybe we could use some of that action in the good old US of A.

I have had mixed feelings about the death penalty for a long time. I cannot say for sure that I support it, or can I say I’m against it. It really comes down to the individual case at hand for the most part. I will never believe that it is a deterrent, just that the individual put to death will never commit another heinous crime.

I had never really thought much about executing someone until 1974, when I saw the Execution of Pvt. Slovik. During World War II, 21,049 American military personnel were convicted of desertion, 49 were sentenced to death. Eddie Slovik was the only one executed. I was outraged, not just because he was executed but also because justice was not served since he was singled out only to deter others from desertion late in the war (not to mention that he did not belong in the military in the first place). His story can be found here:

http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=103&category=people

Now we continue to sentence people to death, just to let them languish in the prison system for years before their final breath of gas or whatever the method (if they don’t die of natural causes first). If the community of the citizens of the USA insist on executing convicted criminals, let’s at least get the job done quickly (like China). No one should live longer than 1 year after conviction. Of course the lawyers will not make as much $$ when the appeal process is shortened but who cares about them anyway.

And while we are at it, maybe we should reconsider what crimes are punishable by death. One that comes to mind quickly is corruption and fraud ala Enron and Ken Lay. He ruined thousands of lives and was going to get off with a slap and probably a pardon until the ultimate authority administered his/her (since watching Dogma I’m not sure of the correct gender) justice.