It’s time to bring the death penalty back
Posted By DANIELA PITEO
Updated 6 months ago
There is something I am loath to admit because it really paints me out to be a monster, but here goes: I hate animal lovers/activists.
Save your acerbic tongue the exercise of eschewing scathing commentary, I don't hate animals. Dogs are great and cats are super.
Do you eat chicken or fish? Then please, don't call yourself a vegetarian. Instead, just admit to being a pretentious jerk that doesn't eat pork or beef because pigs and cows are cute and slaughtering them is cruel.
Boy do I have news for you, chickens get slaughtered too. A woman, ugly or stupid, is no less a person, so unless that cordon bleu died of natural causes for your culinary enjoyment, the same rules apply.
A man once said to me that he doesn't eat meat because he wouldn't eat his dog. I looked at him, smiled, and asked, “Would you wear your dog?”
He looked down at the leather coat draped over his torso, looked up at me and said nothing. He had no rebuttal.
Now, let's get to the real meat of my rant, the reason I deplore these “types” and groups like PETA is simple, there is always one animal they don't seem to fight for, humans.
Animal cruelty is shameful, and groups like PETA serve as the voice for animals that can't speak for themselves. I get that.
A person with a voice isn't always heard.
When Tori Stafford undoubtedly cried for her family in the last hours of her life, did anyone hear? When Stephanie Rengel's lungs filled with blood after being repeatedly stabbed, did anyone hear her gasping for air? PETA didn't rally outside the doors of the courthouse for these young animals of the human kind, but maybe that is because the human animal is not an endangered species. Tell that to their mothers.
Dare I suggest it is time to bring the death penalty back to Canada?
Under section 722 of the Criminal Code of Canada, victims of crime deliver an impact statement detailing the effect of a criminal offense.
“Why didn't I look out and see her dying in the snow?” Ian Rengel, Stephanie's younger brother, now 13-years-old, asked in his victim impact statement. “I could have told her I loved her and that everything was going to be fine if she could just hold on a little longer.”
Ian Rengel continued to speak about his sister, who had now been dead longer than his baby brother had been alive.
“I don't know who to trust, who to fear, who to make friends with so I probably just won't. I can't trust anybody,” the young boy said.
Stephanie Rengel's grandmother delivered her impact statement next:
“Every possible courtesy, respect and concession [was given to M.T. and D.B, Stephanie's murderers]. There was no trial for Stefanie, no jury, no judge, no solicitous defense, no careful weighing of evidence, no concessions because of her youth, no pity, no six-hour-long closing argument…just a brutal, calculated, cold-blooded execution and afterwards, a bizarre re-enactment and a sexual reward, freely given, for a job well done.”
The Young Offenders Act protects minors, but from what I am not entirely sure, at least in the case of homicide.
If M.T. is tried and convicted as a minor she will serve six years in a young offenders prison, eight years less than her victim was afforded to live.
M.T. was 14 years old when she convinced 17-year-old D.B. to stab Stephanie to death, an age when right and wrong are clearly defined. A child much younger than 14 understands that murder is wrong, evil and unforgivable.
The death penalty is not a deterrent for crime, but neither is incarceration.
I certainly wouldn't advocate the death penalty for all crimes, but for heinous crime and offenses perpetrated against minors, I would consider it.
I can't speak to whether capital punishment offers vindication, I can't and I hope I never have to.
Murderers pay a debt to society, which is collected behind bars, with three meals a day, a library of books, and a free education.
Just ask Karla Homolka, who four years ago was reintroduced into society with a degree from Queen's University.
Homolka gets a second chance at life, but her victims do not. She was rewarded with a superior education, one that Kristen French would never have. French will never know the joys of marriage and parenthood, but Homolka will.
This isn't justice. She and her like-minded accomplice should have been executed, removed from society and buried in an unmarked grave.
I have heard the adage “an eye-for-an-eye and the whole world goes blind,” but we are living in the when we turn our back on victims to protect offenders.
Capital Punishment may seem like a throwback to civilization, but I can't imagine another way for justice to be served. As a society we cringe at executing murderers, doing the very thing they so easily did themselves.
There is no panacea for preventing violent crime. Retribution need be swift and severe, if only to send the message that life is valued above all else.
It has been suggested that inflicting the death penalty is inhumane, a violation of human rights.
How long until activists argue the very same thing about incarceration?
You can leave feedback for Daniela at:
newsroom@on.aibn.com
