Immanuel Kant once wrote in his philosophical writing, Metaphysical Elements of Justice "If, however, he has committed a murder, he must die. In this case there is no substitute that will satisfy the requirements of legal justice. There is no sameness of kind between death and remaining alive even under the most miserable conditions, and consequently there is also no equality between the crime and the retribution unless the criminal is judicially condemned and put to death." Would Immanuel Kant apply this logic to the case of Kelly Gissendaner?
In 1997 one, Kelly Gissendaner, was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in Georgia for conspiring to murder her husband with her new boyfriend who later carried through with the plan by stabbing her husband to death. Since then her case has become high profile in the media. This is because in 2011 Miss Gissendaner graduated from her prison's theology program and has since taken on many pastoral roles for many in her prison. Because of this she claims she has been saved by Jesus and has repented for her crime. Since her repentance, over 77,000 people have signed a petition to stop her execution, specifically with over 500 signatures from faith leaders all over the world.
In addition to all this public controversy, there have been many technical difficulties regarding the actual execution of Kelly Gissendaner. Her first execution date was scheduled for February 25 and was later postponed due to bad weather. It was rescheduled for March 2, only to be postponed yet another time due to issues related to the chemicals that were going to be used for the execution. The night of her scheduled execution, Miss Gissendaner was given more time to live when prison official took caution because they noticed the the drug they were going to use to execute her were "cloudy." This second last minute postponement of Miss Gissendaner's execution motivated more determination to back up her plea for clemency.
Some argue that all of this was a chain of coincidences, but many others argue that it is indeed fate and that Kelly Gissendaner has truly transformed her life and has rehabilitated from her crime. Kant claims that those who murder must be put to the death penalty by the state in order to protect its people, but what if the murderer has repented and claims that they no longer display a threat to the society? What would Kant do?
I do not know if Kant would agree with me, however I believe that the prison system should exist for the purpose of rehabilitation, rather than serve solely as a system of punishment. The death penalty should be used in the few cases in which the person at hand is unable to be rehabilitated and is incapable of coexisting safely in our society. Therefore, in my opinion if Kelly Gissendaner is truly 'saved' as she claims, there should be no need for her execution. Is it possible for someone to be forgiven for an unethical action?
Work Cited
Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. "Capital Punishment: Our Duty or Our Doom?" SCU. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n3/capital.html (Accessed March 12, 2015).
Borkett-Jones, Lucinda. "Kelly Gissendaner Death Penalty: Faith Leaders Petition for Stay of Execution." Christian Today. March 3, 2015. http://www.christiantoday.com/article/kelly.gissendaner.death.penalty.faith.leaders.petition.for.stay (Accessed March 12, 2015).
Connor, Tracy. "Georgia Executions of Kelly Gissendaner, Brian Terrell on Hold." NBC News. March 3, 2015. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-executions-kelly-gissendaner-brian-terrell-hold-n316471 (Accessed March 12, 2015).
Kant, Immanuel, and John Ladd. Metaphysical Elements of Justice. 2nd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999. 139.
Voytinsky, Michael. "Kantian Case Against The Death Penalty." Academia. https://www.academia.edu/2469736/Kantian_Case_Against_The_Death_Penalty (Accessed March 12, 2015).
Potter, Nelson. "Kant and Capital Punishment Today." UNL. January 1, 2002. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=philosfacpub (Accessed March 12, 2015).
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