Texas Executes 500th Person Since 1982

Yesterday, the state of Texas executed it's 500th person since they restored the death penalty in 1982 (about 30 years). That's an average of nearly 17 executions every year. About 40% of all executions in the United States (slightly more than 1,300) were performed in Texas -- making it the most blood-thirsty state in the Union, by far.

This time, Texas executed a woman -- Kimberly McCarthy (pictured at the left). McCarthy was killed because she was convicted of killing a 71 year-old woman (her neighbor, a retired college professor) in a 1997 robbery in Lancaster, Texas. It was a horrific crime, as she killed the elderly lady by attacking her with a butcher knife and a candelabra.

I make no excuses for McCarthy. She committed a vicious crime and deserved to be punished. But I still think it is wrong for the state to punish killing by killing. It doesn't reduce crime, and it sends a bad message to people (that killing is OK). Wouldn't life without parole have been just as effective a sentence? Couldn't the state have punished this woman while sending a message about the sanctity of a human life (all human life)?

This officially-sanctioned killing was done on behalf of all the citizens of the state of Texas. That means for the 500th time, our state government has made us all killers. I'm ashamed. Justice can be served without killing anyone.