Banks case raises questions about justice

I can't blame Banks for appealing his sentence and fighting the death penalty, though there is no doubt he committed the horrible crimes in question.

Most of us who lived in the area in 1982 remember waking to the tragic news that Banks had killed 13 people, many of them his own children, in a shooting rampage. One of the little girls who died was in my sister's kindergarten class. It was the worst local crime I can remember.

My sympathy in this case is not for George Banks but for the victims and the family members who mourn their loss. I'm sure not many days go by that they do not remember the devastating events of that fateful day. I would imagine that Banks, if he is in his right mind, is also haunted by that day as he sits in his cell. And that's where he should be until God calls him home.

Banks' potential execution brings the death penalty to the forefront once again, though it won't likely attract our attention for long because the impending presidential election grabs most of the headlines. It's also unlikely you will hear either of the two main presidential candidates speak on the death penalty because it is not a hot-button issue like the war on Iraq, health care or the economy.

I believe the death penalty is among the less recognized, but important, issues that face our nation as we grow toward becoming a more just and civilized society. We are not there yet, for sure, but abolishing the death penalty would be a major step in the right direction.

Most civilized nations consider the death penalty cruel and inhuman. More than 106 nations have abolished it, with 30 doing so since 1990. So there is hope for us yet, though the United States is joined by China, the Congo and Iran as the most prolific executioners in the world. That's not the kind of company most of us would like to keep.

Not every state in our country has the death penalty. Twelve out of the 50 do not, but Pennsylvania remains high on the list, with approximately 235 death-row inmates. That number is 400 less than California, which leads the nation, and 230 more than New York, our neighbor to the north.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1972, there have been more than 780 executions in our country. During the same time, more than 80 people on death row have been found innocent and been released from prison, meaning one person has been freed for every 10 executed. Statistically this could mean one out of every 10 people on death row is innocent. Those are scary odds when you're dealing with people's lives.

Some claim the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, but the facts do not back up that logic. In fact, the opposite is true. The states that do not have the death penalty generally have lower murder rates than those that do.

The search for justice and retribution is probably the strongest argument for capital punishment. The families of the victims seek a sense of peace and justice that they hope the death penalty will provide, but peace cannot be attained through the justice system; it comes from God alone. Recall the words of Gandhi, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Retributive justice cannot give peace; it doesn't have it to give.

So as 3,500 people sit on death row awaiting execution, we are left to ponder how civilized a nation we are. Is it possible that 350 of those waiting for death are innocent? Or even 10? Do those 3,500 not have dignity as human persons like the rest of us? Or did they forfeit their dignity when they committed their capital offenses? Just some questions we must wrestle with if we are to become a better people.

Father Bob Timchak is the pastor of Transfiguration Church in West Hazleton and SS. Peter & Paul Church in Hazleton.