Capital Punishment and Frank Spisak

July

Capital Punishment and Frank Spisak

“He deserves death.”

“Deserves it ! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

I suspect some that read my blog might recognize that quote. It’s fairly famous. And oddly enough it isn’t really related at all to capital punishment. Those are the words of Gandalf, the wizard from JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings. But they certainly remind me of capital punishment.

I’m currently reading The Lord of the Rings again (fantastic books, by the way), and when I came across that quote I felt inspired to read a bit more about it. In the course of my inter-web browsing, I came across some articles concerning Frank Spisak, a man who is currently on death row in my home state of Ohio, and currently set to be executed on February 17, 2011.

Frank Spisak, fairly obviously, is a bad man. He killed three people and shot two others in what he called a guerrilla war against his enemies — blacks and Jews. He is such a bad man, in fact, that at his trial his defense lawyer said the following as part of his closing argument:

“Ladies and gentlemen, when you turn and look at Frank Spisak, don’t look for good deeds, because he has done none. Don’t look for good thoughts, because he has none. He is sick, he is twisted. He is demented, and he is never going to be any different.”

Also worth noting — he dressed like Hitler at his trial, carried a copy of Mein Kampf, confessed to the murders, and showed no remorse. When asked if he could think of any reason the jury would not recommend the death penalty, he replied, “Not offhand. Can you?”

Frank Spisak has twice appealed his case as high as the Supreme Court, most recently claiming his attorneys did not adequately represent him at his trial, in an attempt to stave off the death penalty. I am not denying that Frank Spisak deserves to die. But I am with Gandalf when it comes to capital punishment. I believe capital punishment should be done away with. Even men such as Frank Spisak could yet have something to give to the world from behind bars. I recently read an article concerning the Son of Sam and his contributions to various religious groups since his jailhouse conversion to Christianity. Who is to say that Frank Spisak won’t someday profoundly affect the life of some poor child going through some of the same problems that he has gone through in his madness?

“Deserves it ! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

– Gandalf (from the Fellowship of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien)

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