Now, count me among those who believe mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug crimes ought to be reconsidered — and who think it’s a mistake to take somebody who is guilty of possession of a small amount of marijuana and put them in a cage with violent criminals. (Pat Nolan of Prison Fellowship probably put it best when he said, “We have prisons for people we’re afraid of, but we’ve been filling them with folks we’re just mad at.”)
I believe in second chances. I believe in reform and rehabilitation. But I also believe in evil.
Twisted rapists and murderers are not in the same universe of criminal as drug users and thieves. So even as we slash mandatory minimum sentences and reform our prison system, I do not believe we should abandon capital punishment for most extreme cases.
You really can’t take someone like Clayton Lockett and reform him — or, at least, the odds of doing so are unfathomable. This wasn’t a crime of passion. He didn’t walk into his house, see his wife in bed with another man, fly into a rage, kill him, and then immediately feel remorse. He shot a 19-year-old woman and then watched his friends bury her alive. Try to reform that.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member