Another page has been turned in the grim, but oh-so-fascinating book of death penalty History in America with the death of Ronnie Lee Gardner on June 18. On death row for committing aggravated murder, Gardner made the exotic choice of facing the firing squad instead of lethal injection, carving a place for himself in History books. He was indeed the third inmate to face this method of execution since 1976, the two other being Gary Gilmore and John Albert Taylor.
I know I've supported the theory of aggravated murder earlier, but I can't help but to seethe case of Ronnie Gardner as a prime example of capital punishment as a form of torture. Many say that rotting away in prison is a worse fate that death penalty, but Gardner makes an argument for the opposite. One of the main points of his attorney was that he stayed on death row for more than twenty-five years, which is a life in the legal system. So Gardner would've been punished twice. Life in jail AND death penalty.
The inmate committed two crime. Killed Melvyn Otterstrom in 1984, which he faced death penalty for and then killed lawyer Michael Burdell with a smuggled gun during an ill-fated attempt to escape from court during the Otterstrom trial in 1985. Back then, Ronnie Lee Gardner was a violent criminal who couldn't bend to the rules of society. He was 24 years old, angry and dangerous to whoever would say "no" to him.
But things changed...
Utah sentenced him to die and then locked him up for a whopping twenty-five years. A quarter century with a sword of Damocles over his head. A quarter century to think about it, to regret and more important, to change. The man that died in front of the firing squad last week might have been still dangerous. I doubt he was as dangerous as he once was though. I doubt that he was crazy enough to go and kill other innocent people. Twenty-five years is a long time. It's long enough to hear the voice of reason and realize how much of an ass you've been.
That's the atrocious power of an institutionalized death penalty. Twenty-five years to look at a clock. Twenty-five years to wonder how the hell have you put yourself in such a mess. I'm not sure the Ronnie Lee Gardner that walked up to the chair last Friday would've killed again.
But it's an institution...
