Two executions

James Byrd has been dead 13 years. Mark MacPhail has been dead for 22 years. Both men were murdered and their killers were executed last night. This morning, both men are still dead and justice remains out of reach.

It's a funny phrase: "were executed." It's passive voice. We don't say "the state of Texas executed Lawrence Brewer." A state is a abstract concept not capable of action on its own. We don't say "the people of Texas killed Lawrence Brewer," although we damn sure did, through our viciousness and apathy. And we don't say "Jailer X and Dr. Y, who administered the 'lethal cocktail' (quickly becoming my favorite cliche) killed him," because, after all, they were only following orders.

Of course, the world is no worse off for the loss of Lawrence Brewer, truly a piece of shit if there ever was one. He was a racist, coked up caracature of a man and a great danger to the general public. His death will draw none of the angst that Troy Davis' has. Unlike Davis, there is no doubt about Brewer's guilt. There is no question of a truly guilty murderer wondering the streets.

But if you are truly against the death penalty — and I mean against it because it is wrong, not because it's applied racistly, costs more money, doesn't deter crime and runs the risk of killing an innocent man — if you are against it because the state doesn't give life and thus has no right to take it, then you should be as outraged at Lawrence Brewer's death as you are at Troy Davis'.

Davis' case is easy. There was no physical evidence to tie him to MacPhail's murder. No murder weapon every surfaced, no DNA, no blood. Nothing. There were witnesses, nine in all who testified against Davis. He was convicted quickly and sentenced to death in seven hours. But seven of those witnesses recanted, some saying they were threatened by police with jail time of their own if they didn't identify Davis. Of the two remaining witnesses, one was supposedly overheard bragging about the murder.

It's easy to be outraged that the people of Georgia killed Troy Davis last night. His guilt remains in doubt and the system simply said, "innocence or guilt is irrelevant." Davis' is the kind of case death penalty opponent dream about.

But the death of Brewer is no less wrong. There is no justice for James Byrd. His wife and children don't want to see Brewer executed. Doing so doesn't bring Byrd back. And, worse, it implies equality between the two. This ultimately is why I think we are so adamant about the death penalty in this country. We cannot abide a tragedy in which no one is responsible. We cannot stand loose ends. So we tell ourselves that once we stick the needle in the murderer the books are cleared and we can pat ourselves on the back for doing so. In the meantime we're telling the world that the two lives are the same, they are interchangeable. And most importantly we are absolving ourselves from any guilt. If you wipe the slate clean there is no need to look and see if society failed to protect the victim before he was killed.

And after all, that is when it would have mattered. We should have cared more about James Byrd when he was alive.