more on innocence

while thinking about this whole carlos de luna thing, i find myself questioning how it is that people can read that an innocent man has been executed and not have sharp pangs of fear, disgust and sadness fill their minds and their bodies for the rest of the damned day. i've talked amongst the people i know in daily life and on the internet a lot about the death penalty, and i talk a lot about the massive number of innocent men and women who have been released from death row after being found innocent and it just floors me to see no reaction in 90% of the people i talk to about it. i wonder, why the fuck don't these people feel anything? are they inhuman? just some vacant void walking around paying bills?

but i think i figured it out. i don't think they really fully stop and think about what the word innocent means. i think when they see or hear about a man or woman in prison, on death row, in handcuffs, shackles, convicted, etc. when they hear about or see these people they automatically see a criminal. they don't see a human being. anyone in cuffs is a criminal right? anyone in prison is a criminal. anyone on death row is a goddamned criminal, right? it's an association and most people don't really take the time to stop and really think about what's going on in the world, that much is obvious with bush in charge. they just go with what they've always been taught, there are no questions, just nod and smile nod and smile. most people just accept what we're told. and because of that, innocent men are being killed by the government of a "free and democratic" country.

just stop for a moment and really think about the word, "innocent". are you innocent? i mean, we've all committed the odd misdemeanor here and there, and most of us are lucky enough to have never gotten caught. some of us have lied, cheated, stolen. but are you innocent of murder? you, reading this, have you ever killed anyone? i'm just going to go ahead and hope and pray that everyone who does read this is shaking their head no right now, and if you are, then it's no massive revelation to think that you're innocent of homicide, right? right. you are innocent of homicide. innocent of taking the life of a fellow human being. innocent.

then you and carlos de luna have something in common. except he was killed, by authorities we are supposed to trust, regardless of his innocence.

just think about it. think about 15 years in a cell smaller than your bathroom, awaiting your own death, unable to speak to the people you love or touch them. unable to watch your children grow, unable to show your spouse how much you love them. imagine not being able to eat your favorite food or have a cold beer on a hot day. imagine a steady diet of salt and msg and no fruit. imagine being chained every time you have to see a doctor. imagine sitting there, hour after lengthy hour, day in and day out, all the while knowing they are going to strap you to a gurney in front of a room of onlookers and fill you full of lethal drugs. knowing they are going to to this while your friends and family stand outside or wait for word at home, crying and sobbing because a loved one is being taken from them. knowing that they are going to grieve for some time afterward and there is nothing you can do to help these people, the people you love more than anything in the world. and you're going through all of this all knowing you're innocent. you have done nothing.

now really think hard about the fact that this exact scenario has happened to hundreds of people who have been exonerated prior to their execution. this has actually happened. and hundreds more remain on death row who are just as innocent as you and i. hopefully they will be exonerated as well.

but carlos de luna was executed. and has been found to be innocent since.

if that makes you feel nothing, i don't need to know you.

posted by Courtney at 11:47 a.m.

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