death penalty news Feb 15, 2005
MONTANA: Death penalty opponents testify in favor of legislation Executing murderers is an odious memorial to the innocent lives they took, the mother of a murdered 7-year-old girl told a panel of lawmakers Monday. Marietta Jaeger Lane, mother of Susie Jaeger, who was kidnapped from her family's tent near Three Forks and murdered more than 30 years ago, urged the House Judiciary Committee to pass House Bill 561, which would abolish the death penalty in Montana. "There are no number of retaliatory deaths that will" equal the value of Susie, Lane told the panel. To kill in Susie's name violates the "goodness, sweetness and innocence of her life," Lane said, adding that only forgiveness and mercy saved Lane's heart from the hatred she once felt toward the man who killed her daughter. The death penalty is currently allowed in Montana. Four men at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge are on death row. HB561, sponsored by Rep. Joey Jayne, D-Arlee, would end the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment with no possibility of release for the crimes now punishable by death. "Those who took lives, they will ultimately be judged," Jayne said. But it is not for the state to kill, even to kill those we may think deserve it. Life is a miracle beyond our comprehension and a society that loves life must respect all life, she said. A more deserving punishment for a killer is to spend the rest of his natural life in a 5-foot-by-8-foot cell agonizing over the wrong he committed, she said. Much of the debate focused on the morality of state-sponsored killing, the cost of the death penalty to taxpayers and the role that punishment may play in deterring crimes. Bishop George Thomas, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, spoke in favor of the bill on behalf of both Montana's Catholic bishops. The church recognizes the right of the state to execute criminals, he told the committee. But the pope has said that since nonlethal ways of removing dangerous persons from society exist, the state should choose means of protecting society that don't involve killing. Thomas said the vengeance and pain that may drive crime victims to support the death penalty, while understandable, do not always represent a "higher moral calling." "We firmly believe that retribution and vengeance neither heal the soul nor restore the loss of a love," he said. "We further believe than an 'eye for an eye' mentality, while understandable, only perpetuates a cycle of violence and promotes the delusion that true peace of heart can be won in the absence of forgiveness." Rachel King, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the death penalty is replete with problems. "For every eight executions, there has been one exoneration," she said. "With an error rate that high, the logical conclusion is that some of those who were executed were likely innocent, too." Helena lawyer Ron Waterman, who has defended men facing the death penalty, said the idea that the possibility of execution deters potential killers doesn't hold water. Many people who commit capital crimes have emotional and mental problems that make it difficult for them to have empathy for their victims, he said, to say nothing of anticipating punishment. Many such crimes are committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol, which is not an excuse for the crime but does suggest that criminals may not be thinking about what will happen if they get caught, he said. Also, as a punishment, it is not fairly imposed. Some murderers in Montana get the death penalty; some do not. The committee made no decisions on the bill. "It is cruel and unusual punishment," he said. "It is random and capricious." Not everyone spoke against the bill. Doug Nulle, a lawyer from Clancy, said some crimes deserve the death penalty, such as the murder of a policeman. And convicts can kill behind bars, too, he said. Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Proctor, also spoke against the bill, saying former lawmaker Ethel Harding's daughter, Lana Harding, was stalked and murdered by Duncan McKenzie, who was put to death a decade ago. Harding, who lives in Taylor's district, favors the death penalty, Taylor said. (source: Billings Gazette)
