David Durenberger: “one of the Supreme Court's most distinguished and respected justices--and a native son of my home State of…”

“one of the Supreme Court's most distinguished and respected justices--and a native son of my home State of Minnesota--recently came to a conclusion regarding capital punishment that should make policymakers take notice. Justice Harry Blackmun abandoned his past ratification of the death penalty on the Court. He concluded that the inherent unfairness of the death penalty-- especially toward poor and minority defendants--means that it can never constitutionally be applied. Justice Blackmun's views do not command a majority on the Court, and it is unlikely that they will in the near future. But the thoughtfulness of his reasoning should make legislators less hasty to create new offenses eligible for the death penalty, as they have been doing on crime legislation currently before Congress. The crime bill passed by the Senate at the end of last year would impose the death penalty for over 50 new offenses. Crime is the No. 1 issue on people's minds, according to recent polls, and rightly so. The problem of crime and violence has escalated into a public health crisis. People deserve to be safe in their homes and communities. Kids deserve a chance to grow up. But they do not deserve to be told by Congress that the solution to crime lies in shrill cries for the death penalty. There is simply no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. In fact, States which have no death penalty have statistically lower murder rates than States with the death penalty.”