Death story number 1

As a persistent, long-time opponent of the death penalty, I freely admit to not being an impartial observer of the news that Scott Peterson has been sentenced to death for the murder of his wife.

I'll leave aside for the moment my disgust at how the tragedy was exploited by a scandal-mongering media. And I'll dispense with condemnations of the right-wing jackasses who pushed "Laci and Conner" laws to advance their reactionary, anti-choice, anti-woman agenda by having the death of a fetus become a second murder charge, thereby attempting to have a fetus become a legal person.

Instead, there are two things I want to say about this:

Repelled by Scott Peterson's seeming lack of sorrow and remorse, a jury decided Monday that he deserves the death penalty for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, almost two years ago to the date.

A cheer went up outside the courthouse as the jury announced its decision after 11 1/2 hours of deliberations over three days. Inside court, Peterson reacted with the same tight-jawed look that some jurors said turned them off after seeing little emotion out of Peterson since his wife's disappearance two years ago.

"I still would have liked to see, I don't know if remorse is the right word," juror Steve Cardosi said at a news conference following the sentence.

First, I have always thought this process puts a convicted person in an impossible bind. You maintain your innocence throughout the trial. You're convicted. If at that point you continue to maintain your innocence, you display "lack of remorse," which is likely to get you executed! If on the other hand you declare how sorry you are, that's a confession and you've marked yourself as a liar - so why should anyone believe you now?

But more than that, what got me was the crowd of "several hundred" that gathered outside the courthouse and cheered when they heard Scott Peterson was to be the target of legalized murder. It's one thing to support the death penalty - although I oppose it on moral, logical, and legal grounds I can comprehend how someone might feel otherwise - but to cheer its imposition, to take enjoyment in the death of a human being? That I just can't connect to. Were they drooling? Were their eyes ablaze? Did they go around hooting and stomping their feet like their team had just scored a touchdown?

The hell with this lethal injection crap. The hell with all this "humane execution" - an oxymoron if ever there was one - business. Let's just put him in an arena with some lions and charge admission. What do you want to bet we could sell the place out?