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?
An act of justice closes the book on a misdeed; an act of vengeance writes one of its own
Lack of lawful access certainly affects our ability to do our jobs, but we know where the harm really falls when evidence is kept unavailable - it falls on innocent people, the people we're sworn to protect.
In the unceasing ebb and flow of justice and oppression we must all dig channels as best we may, that at the propitious moment somewhat of the swelling tide may be conducted to the barren places of life.
The love of justice and the love of country plead equally the cause of these people, and it is a moral reproach to us that they should have pleaded it so long in vain.
In the area of economic justice, we still have a long way to go. We have too many people who are discriminated against just because they happen to be black or they happen to be a woman or some other minority.
Because we always are feeling for justice for all that the reality is, unfortunately, the justice system is skewed, and often people of color do not receive appropriate justice in this country.
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