Cruelty is the point:

"Federal executions were resumed by Trump in July after a 17-year hiatus despite coronavirus outbreak in U.S. prisons." https://twitter.com/AP/status/1337225060650717184

I teach college courses to inmates. I have been overwhelmed by their general thoughtfulness and determination to succeed. They have suffered unspeakable atrocities in their lives. When your only education neglect, abuse, and crime, it is no wonder these teens made bad choices.

A horrible childhood is not an excuse for committing a crime. That said, when you look at adolescent psychology, you can see what a dangerous mix the still-developing teenage mind is with a lifetime of violence and hardship as a constant factor during their brain development.

Many of the men I teach were incarcerated as teens. When parents, schools, & the state failed to keep them fed &protected, gangs became their surrogate families. When they write memoirs for my class, they talk about how deeply they regret their actions.

The majority of them feel remorse. When in prison, they have nothing to do but think of their actions. They are deeply sorry for the pain they have caused others. They are sorry for the pain they caused their families. I've seen stoic, burley, tattooed men cry in class.

Human life is precious. The soul has its own journey. We have no idea what kind of grace may appear in the lives of the incarcerated. Restorative justice is a much more healing experience for families of victims than another death. Executions are not deterrents of crime.

So when I see a man like Trump with so much power willing to throw away life so recklessly, I am struck by his callousness and disregard for the potential of the human soul. Mercy and compassion is missing. Power is the point. Instilling fear is the point. Cruelty is the point.

An execution is the ultimate Shakespearean tragedy. Lives were lost through the crime. The families and communities suffer. The suffering builds as the inmate and his family fights for his life while the victim's family waits and suffers. The final death occurs. End scene.

But that's just it. The scene just...ends. There is no resolution to the problem. Instead, the people who were touched by the crime either end up dead or holding dead people. It is a really shitty way to get justice.

Restorative justice is a way to involve all parties in a productive discussion of what has occurred. It allows all parties to be heard, and empowers the victims as they are instrumental in the decision of how justice will be restored together with the community.

Imagine being killed by your government for a bad decision you made as a teen. What I have learned from my time working in prisons is that we are all just a bad decision away from incarceration. We could all easily be in the wrong place at the wrong time or with the wrong person.

The death penalty is a relic of our violent and barbaric past. We have the tools to move beyond Hammurabi's view of justice that evolved 4,000 years ago. We have research now. Psychology. Psychiatry. Therapies. Widespread literacy. It is a whole new world.

And I cannot tell you how healing and powerful a moment of grace can be. Healing for the victims who choose to grant it. Healing for the offender who receives it. When a death sentence is handed down, the opportunity for this is completely lost.

We all know that our judicial system is flawed. Studies are clear how much racism comes into play when it comes to the conviction and sentencing of criminals. With a system so flawed and predatorial, it is unconscionable to inflict a death sentence in these circumstances.

I speak of these things not only as a teacher, but also as the victim of violent crimes. I have opted for mercy for my offender. I am still fiercely proud of myself. I sincerely wanted him to get the therapy he needed and to be able to finish his education.

My ability to show grace was very healing for me. It was ampowering. It snapped me out of my fear and victim mentality, and I felt empowered. I could see him not as just someone I feared but someone who was sick and in need of therapy and education. It helped in my healing.

I am sad we have a president who will never understand how compassion and restorative justice works. He does not value human life. This family's tragedy has now ended in another family's tragedy. This isn't right. It is an unending cycle of trauma.

The cruelty is the point.