Popular entertainment provides background for death penalty issue

This past weekend Helen and I began watching “Making a Murderer,” a documentary about a Wisconsin man who may have been railroaded on a murder charge.

I say “may” because I don’t know. I’ve only watched one episode. And I saw one article that said the makers of “Murderer” withheld evidence that would implicate the accused, Steve Avery.

But one thing is certain. Avery spent 18 years behind bars after being convicted of sexual assault. He was later exonerated by DNA evidence. No one contends he was guilty of that crime.

Another murder story, “Serial,” a podcast about a Baltimore man who was convicted of his ex-girlfriend’s murder, has become a national sensation. It was the first podcast on iTunes to reach five million downloads.

Accused murderers who may be innocent rank among the hottest trends in entertainment. The public can’t get enough of them.

Which is all just a little bit ghoulish.

You might even call it the ultimate “guilty pleasure,” finding enjoyment in stories about people who may have been wrongfully judged guilty of murder.

But their popularity may serve a greater good.

With so many books, TV shows and podcasts devoted to the topic of the unjustly accused and convicted, how can we continue to feign ignorance about the imperfections in our criminal justice system?

This is especially relevant in Delaware because Thursday, Jan. 28, the House is scheduled to vote on Senate Bill 40, which would eliminate the death penalty in Delaware.

The only exemption is for those already on death row. It does not include exceptions for cases involving terrorism or the killing of a child.

It also doesn’t include an exception for those accused of killing a police officer, which was a sticking point for some legislators. House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, and Rep. Steve Smyk, R-Milton, are both former state troopers.

Those exceptions have emotional appeal but would leave the legal
machinery of the death penalty in place.

The state Senate passed the bill 11-9 last year with bipartisan support. Among those voting yes were Sussex County Republicans Sen. Ernie Lopez of Lewes and Sen. F. Gary Simpson of Milford.

From the Senate, it went to the House Judiciary Committee, where it remained bottled up by Chairman Larry Mitchell of Elsmere, a Democrat who is yet another retired police officer.

In a statement, Mitchell said that while he was personally opposed to repealing capital punishment, “it was clear to me that this issue deserves to be presented to all the members of the House for debate and an up-or-down vote.”

Schwartzkopf said much the same thing.

So now it’s up to the people of Delaware to make their voices heard, because there’s a potential downside to Thursday’s vote.

If the bill fails, so could the issue of death penalty repeal, at least for the time being. Proponents were able to bring the issue back this year because it remained unsettled.

Next time, opponents could say, with justification, that it’s already been decided.

The reasons for repeal are well known and, in light of what we know about past injustices, common sense.

We know that our criminal justice system, in Delaware and everywhere, is imperfect and therefore unqualified to administer the ultimate penalty.

We know that people are much more likely to be given the death penalty for killing a white person, as opposed to a person of color.

We know that, as Justice Ruth Ginsburg said, people who are well represented by counsel - generally people of means - don’t face the death penalty.

That leads to an inescapable conclusion: The ultimate penalty is applied capriciously, making it morally and logically insupportable for a civilized society.

(The majority of executions take place in six countries, Iran, North Korea, China, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Nice company.)

Avery, the subject of “Making a Murderer,” received $400,000 after he was exonerated for the sexual assault case. That doesn’t begin to make up for the 18 years he lost in prison, but at least it’s something.

There is no making up following an execution.

So now it comes down to you. You’ve watched the shows, read the books and articles and listened to the podcasts.

You know our criminal justice system is imperfect. Now it’s time to act on that knowledge. Contact your representative to let them know you support death penalty repeal.

It might make you feel better about enjoying your guilty pleasure.


Don Flood is a former newspaper editor living near Lewes. He can be reached at floodpolitics@gmail.com.