Mark Hatfield: “After many years of struggle with this question, Justice Blackmun has come to the conclusion that the death penalty can…”

“After many years of struggle with this question, Justice Blackmun has come to the conclusion that the death penalty can not satisfy the constitutional demands for consistency, fairness, and individualized sentencing. Justice Blackmun has seen the death penalty applied in an arbitrary and often discriminatory manner. The legal barriers making it possible that valid evidence of a prisoner's innocence might not be heard provide further reason for his coming to the conclusion that the death penalty can not be reconciled with the eighth amendment's requirement against cruel and unusual punishment. I do not presume to be an expert in constitutional law. And, I have disagreed with some important positions that Justice Blackmun has taken, including his past stance that the death penalty might be imposed if somehow it could be used fairly and consistently. I oppose the death penalty because I believe that government-sponsored killing in all of its forms is immoral. It serves to further this point when a Justice of the Supreme Court, who has seen a vast number of death penalty cases over his long career, comes to the final conclusion that fallible humans can not fairly apply this punishment, or even be certain that they are executing the right person. When human beings attempt to take on authority that only our Creator possesses they are doomed to failure.”