On Constitution Day, Sept. 18, Del Mar College played host to a panel discussion on the death penalty. The discussion lasted about two hours, and brought up a lot of interesting points. The panelists consisted of five people, including three college professors, the District Attorney, and an ex-judge who has signed the death warrants for two victims of the state. The three professors were all from Del Mar and taught government: Hernando Ramerez, Dr. Nancy Bednar, and Dr. Ellis. Judge Westegrin and District Attorney Circa rounded out the panel.

Judge Westegrin opened the discussion. “I do not support the death penalty, strictly on a philosophical level,” he said.  This brings to mind the age old argument of, “An Eye for an Eye.” Westegrin brought up many valid points in opposition to this tale of vengeance. First thing for parents to look at would be, what are our children thinking? From the first time children fight back when a brother or sister hits them they are told, “Violence does not solve violence.” That said, children are getting a very mixed message when they are told that they should not fight back with violence against the bully and then watch the news only to see that another person has been executed by the state.

We need not only to look at the amazing amount of hypocrisy that is involved in this, but at how much damage it is doing – not only to the justice system, but to the upbringing of our children who will one day run our country. Why let their minds be poisoned by the idea that killing is okay?  The death penalty is a horrible process indeed; furthermore the amount of time and moneys spent on these capital cases is outrageous. In Texas, the average cost per death penalty case is approximately 2.3 million dollars per case. With huge resources at hand, Texas has the highest murder rate in the country.

The judge also made the point that, “Lessened would support be if more people were continually exposed to the death penalty.” Not only is the death penalty barbaric, but it is extremely tedious. The average time for a jury to be picked for a capital trial case is about two to three weeks. The possible jury members have to stay in hotels, and many times are not allowed talk to their friends and families. This isolation motivates the jury to end the even longer trial, so they may not be concerned with justice, but rather with getting home to their own families.

There are two aspects to each capital trial. The first trial is an attempt to prove innocence or guilt, whereas the latter trial is the punishment phase. According to District Attorney Circa, to be picked for the jury, you must agree that the death penalty is a just and accurate punishment. So if you are against the death penalty, you don’t have a say in what is happening to your fellow human beings.

During the discussion, Professor Nancy Bednar provided a bit of information on moratoriums. Currently the states considering moratoriums include New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, and Nebraska. Bednar also noted that U.S. Senator Feingold is involved with a proposal in Congress to nationally abolish the death penalty.

According to Circa, some popular reasons for asking for the death penalty include: murder for hire, murder of a child under the age of 6, murder of a police officer or other public servant, rape with murder, and in some cases treason. Mr. Circa also added that when looking at death penalty cases, two things sought in a defendant are: First, their personality type; are they remorseful or not? Are they afraid of the death penalty? Second, they look at the defendant’s criminal record. According to Circa, the state typically does not like to execute first time offenders.

But in the case of recently executed Farley Matchett, the state obviously didn’t care about either reason. Matchett had no prior record, and was deeply sorry for the death of his uncle. So remorseful, in fact, that after the tragic confrontation with his uncle he called an ambulance and even tried to give his uncle CPR in hopes of saving his life. And a look at Texas’ death row can give you insight into the system that Circa talks about: Reserving the death penalty for hardened criminals charged with heinous crimes is rarely followed.

The last thing discussed was the rapid rate of executions in Texas. “The system of execution in Texas is that of an assembly line death-machine,” Judge Wesegrin said. As noted above, Texas executes hundreds more people than any other state, and continues to increase its number of executions. Westegrin also pointed out that he in no way shows love for the accused, but states that they are human beings. He doesn’t believe in killing human beings.

Over all, though, the discussion seemed like nothing more than a mere celebration for Constitution Day. No one on the discussion panel showed any sign of actually moving towards a solution. There was, however, some decent information given. At the end of the panel discussion the panel members opened the discussion to members of the community, but did not give appropriate time for actual community interaction.

For more information about the Corpus Christi chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, email: cedpcorpus [at] gmail.com. CEDP is always open to new members, as well as encourages community participation.

Garry Spitzer is a student and anti-death penalty activist. He is heavily involved with the Corpus Christi chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.