When thinking of the death penalty, my mind often wonders the ever-famous line, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
In this one sentence, our Declaration of Independence reveals the most treasured of American values and morals. It astounds me that these unalienable rights can be swept under the rug, when in the dead of night, prison officials gather and deny another human being the first of these rights.
Why has no one acknowledged this hypocrisy in the difference between our revered, historical document, and the lives that are taken by the state? According to the Declaration, life is endowed by the Creator, and it is a truth which is self-evident.
There are times when liberty and the pursuit have to be taken in order to preserve the rights of others. But life does not have to be taken to protect the rest of us. I have enough faith in the prison system of America. Statistically, there is no way to remove the margin of error in convictions and death penalty cases. Therefore, we can kill no one.
This margin of error brings me to the case of Troy Anthony Davis. This is a man that claims innocence. There is proof to support this claim. He could be the face of the margin of error in the death penalty system in America. He is a living, breathing reason to abolish the death penalty once and for all.
Gail
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