by Harvey Wasserman
America’s Supreme death penalty hypocrisy must end before more innocents are murdered. Six “pro-life” US High Court “Justices” have shrugged at the death of Marcellus Williams, a horrific sentence cavalierly imposed September 24 in Missouri.
Williams forever proclaimed his innocence. The family of the alleged victim joined his in begging that he not be executed. Numerous judicial players on the many sides of this lethal travesty asked that he be spared. Procedural, evidentiary and common sense holes in the case left more than ample room to further explore the obvious defects in the prosecution and sentencing.
But this MAGA Court, like so many Trumpist lovers of the death penalty, believes itself to be Divinely ordained beyond all decency and law. The level of dishonesty is cosmic. By 6-3 the Court has robbed millions of women of rightful control over their own bodies. Proclaiming the “sanctity of life,” these murderous “justices" are more than willing to let women die for lack of medical care. Their melodramatic concern for “the unborn” does not extend to women unable protect their bodies in cases of rape, incest or accidental pregnancies.
MAGA tears for the virtually undeveloped embryo are never matched for fully grown humans wrongfully convicted of crimes they never committed. Donald Trump’s “pro-life” ramblings are always psychotic. He’s never apologized to the “Central Park Five,” young African-American men long ago wrongly accused of rape. Trump demanded their summary execution in full-page newspaper ads. One has since become an elected official. But Trump has left no doubt that if he had it to do over, he would again demand their judicial murder.
Three of the six MAGAs now running the US Supreme Court lied to Congress to get appointed, falsely portraying themselves as viewing Roe v. Wade to be “settled precedent.”
“Justices” John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barret did legal work for the violent 2000 “Brooks Brothers Mob” terror attack that ended the legitimate vote count in south Florida, wrongly putting George W. Bush in the White House. Bush then killed untold thousands with his catastrophic, wholly unjustified attack on Iraq.
Over the centuries of American juris prudence, no credible research has proven that the death penalty diminishes capital crime. In fact, it may encourage it among killers inclined to suicide. Meanwhile legal and academic researchers have shown for years that literally hundreds of innocent Americans have been wrongly executed for crimes they did not commit.
The US remains among a tiny handful of nations still allowing this barbaric act.
Yet millions of self-righteous evangelical “pro-life” fanatics wrap themselves in the “unborn” while never hesitating to kill obvious innocents like Marcellus Williams. This nauseating nonsense must end.
We anxiously await the day when Kamala Harris and a sane Congress will codify a woman’s right to control her own body in all phases of medical care, including pregnancy. At the same time, this horrific imposition of legalized death penalty murder must end.
“Pro-choice” rights for women are the human rights flip side of ending capital punishment.The MAGA evangelical “pro-life” hypocrisy needs to end NOW… before still more innocents are killed by a self-righteous rogue state and its murderous mob.
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Harvey Wasserman wrote The People’s Spiral of US History and co-hosts “California Solartopia” at KPFK.org, airing 90.7fm-Los Angeles at 5pm PT on Wednesdays, aiming to solarize the 2028 LA Olympics.