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Care About the Death Penalty? |
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By Michael Heflin Amnesty International-USA
The answer to this question ought to be clear. As a community that faces discrimination and marginalization, we should be particularly concerned about the administration of justice in this country especially when it involves fundamental issues of life and death. The death penalty is a basic human rights violation and is administered in this country in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner in clear contravention of international human rights standards. In many ways Wanda Jean Allen's case is reflective of the general administration of the death penalty in this country.
Wanda Jean Allen is not the only lgbt person in this country facing execution. In Texas an openly gay man, Calvin Burdine, awaits his execution date, following a trial at which he was represented by a lawyer who, at an earlier court hearing, referred to homosexuals as "queers"and "fairies," and did not object to a statement by the prosecutor that: "sending a homosexual to the penitentiary certainly isn't a very bad punishment for a homosexual." He also failed to exercise his right to remove three prospective jurors during jury selection who admitted to being prejudiced against homosexuals. He did not interview a single witness in preparing Calvin Burdine's defense and was seen to fall asleep repeatedly during the trial. In another Texas case, Glen Charles McGinnis, an openly gay African-American man, was executed on January 25, 2000. He was sentenced to death for a crime he committed at the age of 17. International law prohibits the use of the death penalty against child offenders, those under the age of 18 at the time of their crime. Mr. McGinnis was also sentenced to death by an all white jury after the judge in his case released all the prospective black jurors from the jury pool. None of the hardships and injustices suffered by Mr. McGinnis, Mr. Burdine, and Ms. Allen justifies their commission of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Each should be held accountable for his or her crimes in a justice system that respects the basic human rights of victims and defendants alike. The above cases are, however, clear examples of the arbitrary and inhuman administration of the death penalty in this country. Because these cases involve members of our own lgbt community they, present us with profound questions about our commitment to justice in the same way that the larger issue of the death penalty asks such questions of Americans as a whole. Are we really committed to seeking human rights protections for all the members of our community, even those most marginalized, or are we only committed to pursuing a narrow human rights agenda -- one that elevates us to the same standards as other Americans, but maintains the injustices in our own community that reflect those of the larger society? Amnesty International is committed to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as a fundamental human rights violation. Many lgbt organizations and leaders have now taken a strong and principled stand in opposing the death penalty. We encourage you to do the same ? for the sake of others like Wanda Jean Allen. Michael Heflin is the director of Amnesty International USA's OUTfrontprogram. |
Wanda Jean Allen 