I am more optimistic though, that this court will eventually conclude that the effort to eliminate arbitrariness while preserving fairness in the infliction of [death] is so plainly doomed to failure that is - and the death penalty - must be abandoned altogether. I may not live to see that day, but I have faith that eventually it will arrive.
Interpretation
The quote expresses hope for the eventual abolition of the death penalty due to its inherent unfairness and arbitrariness.
Harry A. Blackmun's quote reflects a deep concern about the death penalty's fairness and effectiveness. He conveys an optimistic belief that, despite the current challenges, society will come to realize that the death penalty cannot be applied justly, leading to its eventual abolition. Blackmun recognizes that this change may not happen in his lifetime, but he remains hopeful for a future where justice prevails over arbitrary punishment.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about the morality of capital punishment.
I cannot see any of these death penalty cases where there hasn't been a violation on the ground of either poverty or race. If we can ever get that straightened out, it will help. But, of course, the real answer to it is to do away with the death penalty.
From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death. ... I fell morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed.
Of one thing, however, I am certain. Just as an execution without adequate safeguards is unacceptable, so too is an execution when the condemned prisoner can prove that he is innocent. The execution of a person who can show that he is innocent comes perilously close to simple murder.
The right of an individual to conduct intimate relationships in the intimacy of his or her own home seems to me to be the heart of the Constitutions protection of privacy.
From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.
In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.
Death row is a nightmare to serial killers and ax murderers. For an innocent man, it's a life of mental torture that the human spirit is not equipped to survive.
If we continue to tell ourselves the popular myths about racial progress or, worse yet, if we say to ourselves that the problem of mass incarceration is just too big, too daunting for us to do anything about and that we should instead direct our energies to battles that might be more easily won, history will judge us harshly. A human rights nightmare is occurring on our watch.
One is entitled to say without qualification that the correlation between prior judicial experience and fitness for the Supreme Court is zero.
Justice and goodwill will outlast passion.
Mere access to the courthouse doors does not by itself assure a proper functioning of the adversary process.
Promoting active liberty does not mean allowing the majority to run roughshod over minorities. It calls for taking special care that all groups have a chance to fully participate in society and the political process.
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