A Rant on Capital Punishment

[smilingplatypus]

This has been bugging me for awhile now  The Canadian government has stopped petitioning for clemency on behalf of criminals on death row.  I don't mean in general -- I mean Canadians being held in countries that have the death penalty.  How do the Conservatives justify this?  Is it just that it was outside out borders, so they don't have to bother

Comments

[crudmonkey]

The Harper government is obsessed with seeming tough on crime, and it doesn't want to appear lenient on murderers, even those on death row in the states. Their rhetoric is filled with talk of mandatory prison sentences for particular offences (and, paradoxically, less gun control. Let's figure that one out.) Officially, I believe they have only stopped seeking transfer of prisoners condemned to death in countries that have supposedly fair and working justice systems, meaning they would still attempt to intercede in other places. I'm skeptical as to how far diplomatic efforts to that effect tend to work, since there have been several cases in the media in recent years involving Canadian citizens jailed in China and other places - it seems to generate public outcry that is met with diplomatic helplessness and shrugging of shoulders. I think I read somewhere that Canadian efforts to get people in the US off death row have generally been successful, which makes this move even more baffling. Whatever. Given the numbers of wrongfully

[smilingplatypus]

Yes, exactly -- I'd rather keep 100 people in prison for life than execute one person who was wrongfully convicted. At least if you're in prison, you can be freed when the mistake comes to light. Bah, I'm cynical about this "tough on crime" stance. They don't have to ask for them to be freed, just not to be killed.

I have a hard time seeing capital punishment as a product of a "fair and working justice system," but you're probably right that they would be more likely to ask for clemency for someone in China or something. (For one thing, Harper likes to stay friendly with the US government.) Really though, even if the diplomatic efforts aren't successful, at least it will be clear that Canada is against that sort of thing, and the person won't feel completely abandoned by their government.

[crudmonkey]

I agree that capital punishment doesn't seem like part of a legitimate justice system. How many so-called developed, Western, modern nations still use it? I don't know, and my guess is the US doesn't care about following the pack in this instance. Unfortunately, despite increasing evidence pointing to American judicial madness, Canada isn't likely to rewrite its policy on American courts.

As a leftish proponent of so-called "soft" prisons (rehabilitation, the kind of constructive system they have in Finland) I'm convinced that being tough on crime in the Conservative / American sense is going completely in the wrong direction, which makes me doubly incensed whenever Stephen Harper opens his mouth. Pretty much. But I may have a bit of a problem. I'm also convinced that tough prisons, capital punishment, and the rest help create and foster a climate favourable to crime, so nobody's going to ask me to dictate policy ;)