From Evansville Courier Press:
James P. Harrison pleaded guilty on Monday and was sentenced to 150 years in prison for the 1989 deaths of two Posey County children.The most striking quote from the article:
The hearing ended an appeals process that has dragged on for more than a decade.
After Monday's sentencing, Posey County Prosecutor Jodi Uebelhack issued a news release saying the victims' family needed a resolution to the case.The appeals process is a crucial part of our justice system's attempt to ensure that innocents are not executed. These appeals rightfully take an extensive period of time so that arguments can be presented and investigated properly but they can cause the double victimization of a family that must then spend over a decade following these appeals closely waiting for the sentence promised to them by the prosecutor.
"This plea will ensure that Harrison will never be released from the Indiana Department of Correction and will cease the endless appeals process this family has endured," she said.
As the quote above indicates, life without parole does offer a way to bring a case to resolution and allow the victim's family to begin the difficult healing process.
1 comments:
I attended high school in Posey Township where I was on the debate team for a case about capital punishment. Like most, I'd never given careful consideration to the consequences of the death penalty, but that project drew the veil from my eyes.
After weeks of research, I came away with a conviction that executions are not only immoral, they are unethical in both a sectarian and religious world, and moreover the death penalty is counterproductive.
I hope other people of good faith can arrive at that same conclusion.
Post a Comment