Texas Kills

On June 26^th, the Houston Chronicle published an article by Allan Turner titled, “500^th Killer Put to Death by Texas.” The article speaks about a woman named Kimberly McCarthy who had been a convicted killer, and after almost 16 years of incarceration, was given a lethal injection which made her the five-hundredth murderer to be put to death by the state of Texas. The article is interesting because it highlights the grotesquely massive number of executions which have been carried out by the state. And as it turns out, Texas is and has been leading in the murder-for-murder numbers since 1930. Some interesting perspectives were also provided by supporters of the death penalty, which allow an insight into the reasoning for backing a punishment which has already been deemed unconstitutional by many states. As one supporter states, “if you take a life, justice needs to be done. It's an eye for an eye,” which in my opinion just screams hypocrisy. I for one agree with Rev. Peter Johnson, [who says] that “the death penalty is not only economically stupid. It says something about our moral fiber. ... The solution to murder cannot be murder.”