Jackson Free Press

The bells of St. Peter's Catholic Church rang for 15 minutes starting at 6 p.m. on Wed., Dec 11. Fifty or so people hung their heads over their small white candles; some wept. The state of Mississippi had executed another man on their behalf, this time Jesse Williams, 51, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Karon Ann Pierce 18 years ago.

Standing beside his father, who was holding a poster stating "Don't Kill In My Name," Spenser Bowley, 13, said, "We think the state shouldn't be murdering other people to say that murder is wrong."

The state of Mississippi has executed 37 people since 1955, of whom 10 were white. Nationally, 35 percent of people executed are black, although African Americans comprise only 12 percent of the population. It could be a race issue; it could also be a class issue. Rich people aren't often executed.

Opponents give other reasons to oppose the death penalty. One: It costs taxpayers less for a life in prison than an execution. Studies show that the cost of a single death-penalty case, from point of arrest to execution, ranges from $1 million to $3 million per case, and the cost of life imprisonment is around $500,000, including incarceration costs.

Two: "Innocent until proven guilty" is no longer the case. At least twenty-three innocent people are believed to have been mistakenly executed since 1900. Each year, about 4.5 people (on average) convicted of capital crimes are proven innocent. And more than 102 people have been released since 1973 after being wrongly convicted. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. said in 1994: "Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent."

Three: The death penalty is not a deterrent. The five countries with the highest homicide rates that do not impose the death penalty average 21.6 murders per every 100,000 people, whereas the five countries with the highest homicide rate that do impose the death penalty average 41.6 murders every 100,000 people. According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, 67 percent of all law enforcement officers do not feel capital punishment decreases the rate of homicides. The average murder rate per 100,000 people in the states with capital punishment is about 8, while it is only 4.4 in states with no capital punishment.

Then there are the reasons to support the death penalty. The mother of Murray Paces, murdered in Baton Rouge six months ago, was at the vigil with a poster proclaiming "Murray Matters." In a tearful voice she begged the crowd to remember her daughter and not forget her gorgeous blue eyes that will never see again, all because some man took her life away.

But, the system of vengeance and revenge is not working in the United States, which along with China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, performed 90 percent of all known executions in 2001. And the small crowd that came together in Smith Park to pray knows that. They plan to keep speaking courageously in the face of violence, hoping that the next time the bells of St. Peter's ring, it can be with joy.