The South Carolina Workers Party stands in opposition to use of the death penalty in our state. Our position on this is based on multiple issues, including a moral objection to state sanctioned murder and an objection to punishment that is ‘cruel and unusual’.
We believe that the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment for any crime is not only inhumane, it is morally incorrect, and has no value as a deterrent for crime. Systemically inherent racial and economic biases in SC guarantee that equal representation is not possible in our court system. This leads to increased chances of unjust convictions for non-white and low income defendants.
The death penalty is an irreversible punishment, and all too often new evidence and technology has shown that not everyone executed in the past was actually guilty. We believe there is no room for even possible error when it comes to ending a human life as punishment for a crime.
In addition to the inhumaneness, lack of deterrent effect, continuing racial and economic biases, and irreversibility of the death penalty, the method being used in the upcoming execution of Freddie Owens is a particularly cruel form of punishment. Mr. Owens refused to select a method of execution, citing his belief that this would be akin to suicide and a violation of his religious beliefs. His lawyer has chosen lethal injection as his method of execution for him. The SC State Supreme Court has decided he does not have the right to know how the medication to be used was obtained by the the State. Without this knowledge, the guarantee of a painless death is impossible, and this uncertainty adds yet another layer of cruelty to Mr. Owens as the Sept. 20 execution date approaches.
The guilt or innocence of people being executed by the State is not the fundamental issue. As long as there is inequality in legal representation based on race or income, as long as there is any possibility of error in convictions, as long as there is any doubt that the method of execution is painless and free of cruelty, the South Carolina Workers Party opposes this punishment, as it is nothing more than state-sanctioned murder.
All the three of the SCWP candidates running
for election to the SC General Assembly
(Gary Votour, Harold Geddings, and Kiral Mace)
pledge to do everything possible as legislators to
put an end to this barbaric practice in our state.
South Carolina Workers Party 