Is it cruel and unusual punishment to force her to live? If her attorneys advocate in her best interests, as they should, and that, obviously would be arguing for a life-sentence, are they violating the Eighth Amendment’s mandate against “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”?
What are we gonna do with her?
Do people who commit such crimes deserve to have their wishes considered, even wishes for death? Her cruelty toward her victim is the stuff of horror films and nightmares. I can hardly bear to read the details of the story in order to write this piece.
But, I wonder about this. I wonder about the parameters of Justice, Fairness, Grace (wow…of all people, Jodi could use a bit of grace), and whether or not our society as a whole can behave humanely. I wonder about this normal-looking woman who seems to house the mind of a monster. Is killing this woman the best way to bring closure to this awful case? What end makes this as close to Right as we can get? If justice is getting what we deserve, who determines that? Can our labyrinthine system of justice do anything but make this worse? I feel for her attorneys: how awful it must be trying to give her an adequate and fair defense. If she is given the death penalty, is that more just than if she lives out her days in a maximum security prison?
And I wonder if anyone would even be paying attention to this if the crime’s details weren’t so salacious. We live in one screwed-up world…they are already casting the movie.
The older I get, the less use I have for the death penalty. Florida, the state with the worst record for wrongly putting people to death, makes me cringe with their new rush to send people to their end. But, in Jodi Arias’ case, I think the only right thing is to grant her wish.
And pray she finds grace.