A LIKELY STORY: DEATH PENALTY IMPERFECT BUT STILL WORTH KEEPING

The big legal question lately has been whether the practice of the death penalty is unfair and whether it should be discontinued.

It is a good one. And I'll get to my opinion on the matter in a moment.

The whole mess began in February when the American Bar Association urged a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty. The ABA's House of Delegates, which makes policy for the nation's largest group of lawyers, voted 280-119.

Leaders of the 370,000-lawyer organization were told that current death-penalty systems are marred by unfairness and racial injustice.

In Cape Girardeau the decision cost the ABA one membership, but it also gained one.

Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County's longtime prosecuting attorney, was so disgusted with the ABA's decision he quit the organization he had been a part of since becoming an attorney.

On the other end of the spectrum, the chief public defendant, attorney Kent Hall, joined the group because of it.

Like I said, it's a tricky question that most lawyers and newspaper columnists have deep-rooted opinions about.

Opponents of the death penalty say the numbers of blacks and whites on death row are disproportionate. That means something is desperately wrong, they say, and is just more proof the death penalty should be discontinued until it can be applied fairly.

Proponents say that is hogwash. They argue it is still a deterrent to serious crimes and is just desserts for people who no longer deserve to breathe our air.

Swingle and Hall are excellent attorneys who hold intelligent opinions. And while both have my utmost respect, I must throw my lot in with Mr. Swingle.

I cannot put it better than Mr. Swingle so I will reprint his statement here: In the letter of resignation, Swingle wrote that, with the new policy against the death penalty, the ABA has become a "mouthpiece for pointy-headed, elitist, arrogant, pencil pushers who probably have never seen the inside of a courtroom. ... Read my lips: You are out of touch."

I don't know about all of that. I just know there are some sick people out there who deserve to die. That may sound a bit harsh, but these are harsh times when a quick jaunt out to the cash machine could get you a bullet to the head.

And you know that some quick-thinking defense attorney could even get the guy off if he could produce evidence that his father had abused him as a child. And besides, weren't you taunting that guy because you have cash in the bank and he doesn't?

Life isn't always fair. I know that, and I also know that human life is precious. But why is a criminal's life somehow more precious than mine or yours?

Like the mills of God, the justice system moves slowly. One may escape punishment for a time for a wrongdoing, but eventually it comes.

The death penalty just gives the convicted a little more to think about while they wait.

Scott Moyers is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.