The Death Penalty May Be Wrong—But Defending a Mass Murderer's Right to Live Is Also Wrong

But Why Tho by Curtis Cook discusses Dylann Roof, the death penalty and being a Pretty Liberal Guy.

I'm a Pretty Liberal Guy, which means that I believe in three things above all else:

1. The most important part of being a male feminist is to constantly be telling women that you are, in fact, a male feminist.

2. Every sentence from now until November 8th should begin with the phrase, "Look, we all wanted Bernie. But…"

3. Anyone who disagrees with me is a Nazi.

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These are inarguably the top three tenets of Pretty Liberal Guyhood, but we do have other ideals. For example, as a PLG, I'm supposed to believe in stuff like prison reform and rehabilitating criminals and putting an end to the death penalty. And those are easy enough positions to take, because all you're expected to do as a Pretty Liberal Guy who passively cares about prison reform is walk into a crowded coffee shop at least once a year and loudly state, "Boy oh boy, I sure would prefer it if we got rid of the death penalty." And that's it.

Conversely, if you're a Very Liberal Guy, you have to attend protests and demonstrations dedicated to protecting the rights of prisoners. Furthermore, if you identify as a Super Liberal Person (gendered pronouns disappear on the Super Liberal level), you have to be a part of the "prison abolition movement." And that takes a lot of dedicated effort, because a prison abolitionist is someone who spends almost all of their time rolling a stone uphill for eternity.

All of that sounds exhausting, so I've always been content to let the real heroes put in the work while I sat back and relaxed, knowing that one day the efforts of good samaritans would finally bring about an end to the legally authorized killing of death row inmates. Then, as a PLG, I would be entitled to undeservingly glom on to the success of those who legitimately fought for reform.

Unfortunately, in light of recent events, I may have to accept that it won't be progressive citizens who enact this change. Instead, the demise of capital punishment might be brought about by the self-proclaimed harbinger of an allegedly impending race war. And that's not someone I want to glom on to at all.

On June 17th, 2015, Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and killed nine people attending a bible study class. Roof later admitted to this crime, and it was revealed that he intentionally targeted the historically Black church in an attempt to ignite a race war. For his actions, Dylann Roof now faces the death penalty.

However, this week Roof's attorneys filed a legal motion challenging the constitutionality of capital punishment. This is largely an attempt to have the the federal prosecutor remove the threat of the death penalty and accept Roof's offer to plead guilty in exchange for multiple sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of release. As of now, though, this motion stands as a legitimate challenge to the legality of the U.S death penalty.

It's unlikely that our government will get rid of capital punishment any time soon, but on the off chance that this challenge is successful, we're in for an incredibly progressive bummer. Because the death penalty may be wrong, but defending Dylann Roof's right to live feels a lot like wearing an "All Lives Matter" t-shirt to a Black Lives Matter rally.

That being said, while the motion filed by Roof's attorneys could potentially be one big step for an incredibly racist asshole, it might also be one giant leap for prison reform. So as a Pretty Liberal Guy, I'm not entirely sure who's side I'm supposed to be on, because I never thought that pursuing the greater good might entail rooting for a mass murderer.

To further complicate the issue, most people on death row are white. This is because white people kill a lot of other white people (white on white crime is a terrible problem in America) and the legal system tends to place more value on white lives (whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????????). Thus, the consequences for killing a white person are often more severe than the repercussions of murdering a Person of Color (which isn't saying much considering that the legal punishment for killing a POC is usually just a paid administrative leave).

So death row is largely comprised of white people who killed white people, which means that if Dylann Roof's lawyers are successful in challenging the death penalty, then a twenty-two-year-old murderer who tried to start a race war will indirectly be responsible for saving the lives of thousands of violent, murderous, predominately white death row inmates. And maybe that's what he's been planning all along. Maybe Dylann Roof is pulling a long con.

Maybe this is how the race war starts.

Ultimately, I guess the moral of the story is that the death penalty is wrong unless it's right, which is either sometimes or never. And race war or no, I think we can all agree with that.

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