Because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious - and therefore immoral - I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes the unfairness and immorality of the death penalty system, leading the speaker to abandon involvement with it.
George Ryan's quote highlights the inherent flaws of the Illinois death penalty system, which he describes as arbitrary and capricious. By labeling the system as immoral, he emphasizes his decision to withdraw from any role that contributes to the executions, advocating for a reevaluation of capital punishment based on fairness and ethical considerations.
In practice
During a debate on capital punishment at a law school, this quote can highlight the ethical implications of the death penalty.
In the US the overwhelming majority of those executed are psychotic, alcoholic, drug addicted or mentally unstable. They frequently are raised in an impoverished and abusive environment. Seldom are people with money or prestige convicted of capital offenses, even more seldom are they executed.
Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error: error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. What effect was race having? What effect was poverty having?
The reasonableness of the agency of the national courts in cases in which the state tribunals cannot be supposed to be impartial, speaks for itself. No man ought certainly to be a judge in his own cause, or in any cause in respect to which he has the least interest or bias.
Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth--even if they decide to help the less fortunate--while others are short-changed, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary, or the inequalities that make it possible.
I think it's useful to recall that a lot of these statutes like 'disrupting the classroom' or 'disturbing the peace' have long been historically used to oppress and criminalize black people.
Supporters of capital punishment bear a special responsibility to ensure the fairness of this irreversible punishment.
Evil must be attacked by. . . the day to day assault of the battering rams of justice.
Mass incarceration is a massive system of racial and social control.
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