Part 1: Obama and the death penalty---what we should have known all along

Did you come in directly to this article? It's part of a series. Make sure to read Introduction, Part 2: Obama and guns, Part 3: Obama and FISA, and Conclusion.

The death penalty is by no means a new issue to Senator Obama. He's been actively working to reform the death penalty for over a decade. Notice I said "reform the death penalty" not "end the death penalty." What does that mean? It means he believes the death penalty is a necessary part of the penal system. Can I call that support? It seems hard to call someone "in favor of the death penalty" and yet, in truth, that's what it is.

The always smart Lawyermama boiled down Obama's position like this: he's pro-death penalty and pro-don't execute the wrong guy.

That's it in a nutshell, and that's been his position throughout his career. In 1999, Barack Obama said, "I was a main sponsor of a bill that would have put an immediate moratorium on the death penalty," said Obama. "We need to put more resources into the Public Defender's office, so they can do things like DNA testing and take other means to make sure you've got the right person before you consider the death penalty." (Chicago Weekend, 9/23/99)

I've been reading Senator Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope, which was published in 2006. In Chapter Two, "Values," he discusses his position on the death penalty in no uncertain terms on pp. 57-58:

. . .I sponsored a bill to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in capital cases. While the evidence tells me that the death penalty does little to deter crime, I believe some crimes---mass murder, the rape and murder of a child---so heinous, so beyond the pale, that the community is justified in expressive the full measure of its outrage by meting out the ultimate punishment.

So while he clearly states that he believes the death penalty is appropriate under very specific circumstances, as a constitutional lawyer, Senator Obama is very concerned about adhering to appropriate proper procedure and maintaining objectivity and rights, ". . .the way capital cases were tried in Illinois at the time was so rife with error, questionable police tactics, racial bias, and shoddy lawyering. . .that a Republican governor had decided to institute a moratorium on all executions."

He managed, despite partisan divisions, to pass his bill because he, ". . .talked about the common value that I believed everyone shared, regardless of how each of us might feel about the death penalty: that is, the basic principle that no innocent person should end up on death row, and that no person guilty of a capital offense should go free."

That overcame the concerns other legislators had about appearing soft on crime and offered a solution to the troubled system.

There's Obama: consistent in his position on the death penalty throughout his career and on top of that, being a leader of leaders, while working for the good of the citizenry.

I don't like the death penalty. Whenever I get the chance, I advocate against it. But I admit, at the end of the day considering cases of child rape, I agree with Obama when he says, "I disagree with the [Supreme Court's] decision; I have said repeatedly that I think the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstance for the most egregious of crimes. I think that the rape of a small child, six or eight years old, is a heinous crime, and if a state makes a decision under narrow limited well defined circumstance the death penalty is at least potentially applicable."

I want to extend love and forgiveness. I'd like to model the Amish. But in truth, while I might be able to extend forgiveness, I don't think I can extend mercy. Child rapists are not one off offenders. I have kids, and that doesn't just make me concerned about my children, but it has evolved me into a super sensitive person about all children. I don't want those people in my society. I'd rather them suffocate under a horrible guilt for the rest of their natural lives than be put to death, but I also can't find it in me to really fight against the death penalty for them.

And as for sloppy reporting such as this New York Times article that misused selective quotes from Senator Obama's book to back a point that he has, until this past week, opposed the death penalty...I say be more careful---you just made a big mistake, in print. You owe your readers a retraction. To readers, I say...check out assertions for yourselves. Go to the source and consider the source.

If you or your readers are surprised, look to yourselves for responsibility; Obama has been very forthright in his position on this issue, and it has been consistent. Again refer to this site and Obama's site to see that. I also highly recommend his two books, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father.

You'll see that when Obama called for a moratorium until reform is achieved, we shouldn't take that to mean that he opposed the death penalty. You'll also see that although Obama said the death penalty doesn't completely deter crime, he wasn't at all saying it is not an appropriate sentence in certain select cases.

I believe Senator Obama is still critical of the death penalty and how it is applied currently, even though he thinks it ought to be applied in cases of child rape.

Feel free to disagree with his position. But don't call it flip flopping or shifting to the middle.

If the death penalty is a big issue for you and you're feeling disconnected from Obama because of what you now understand to be his actual position, keep this in mind:

Obama's most significant contribution has been his legislative battles against the death penalty, and against in the criminal justice system. In Illinois, it's been a series of shocking exonerations of innocent people who are on death row. He was involved very intimately in drafting and passing legislation that requires the video taping of police interrogations and confessions in all capital cases. And he also was one of the co-sponsors of this very comprehensive reform or the death penalty system in Illinois, which many people say may trigger the retreat on the death penalty in many other states.

Source: Salim Muwakkil and Amy Goodman, Democracy Now Jul 15, 2004

Make sure to read Introduction,  Part 2: Obama and guns, Part 3: Obama and FISA, and Conclusion.

By Julie Pippert.

Comments

[cynematic]

I also believe it can't have escaped Obama that a disproportionate number of men in prison are brown and black relative to their overall numbers in the general population, and a disproportionate number of men on death row are brown and black relative to their overall numbers in the general population. Source: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=5&did=184, http://www.capitalpunishmentincontext.org/issues/race, and also http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=45&did=539, for just a few sources.

Therefore I don't think he would advocate for a broad or sweeping application of the death penalty, given its race-asymmetrical application within the mechanisms of an obviously imperfect criminal justice system.

I agree with you that his position is more nuanced than how the public's been reading it or how the MSM or even Netroots have been interpreting it.

[Julie Pippert]

As usual, Cyn, nail on the head. I considered delving in to his overall crime position---which addresses race amply, from articles and his book---but it's so complex and in-depth that I thought it would have to be its own deal. He really hits on so many aspects of why crime happens and why what we do isn't stopping it, and also in his book explains in greater detail why he thinks capital punishment is suitable in some cases.

I'll take that and work it with my discussion with the Chief of Police. So everyone stay tuned! Crime fighting from the enforcement side of the fence and the legal side---my very own law and order here at MOMocrats!

[Gunfighter]

Pssst Julie? You knwo you can ask me stuff about, too... right?