Obama Cites Role in Death Penalty Reform

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/12/obama.death.penalty.ap/

Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, is strongly against the death penalty and wants to reform it. He had a huge role in changing the death penalty laws. These laws were changed in 2003 which saved the lived of 13 people sentenced to death row. Scott Turow who is a member of the state commission claimed, “Without Barack's energy, imagination and commitment I do not believe the very substantial and meaningful reforms that became law in Illinois would have taken place.” This quote shows Barack is a hard working, smart, and dedicated who is willing to reform things he believes in such as the death penalty.

Obama strongly enforced needed changes and claimed he wanted law enforcement and death penalty critics to make compromises. He made a proposal to make police record interrogations of murder suspects. Police, prosecutors, and the governor opposed his proposal. But, in the end, the Senate passed this proposal unanimously after the police organizations were in favor of the recording mandate. After this, there was much controversy. Murder victims’ families felt betrayed, police organizations felt they were constantly criticized, and lawmakers were concerned about people judging them as “soft on crime.” Despite the concerns, I agree with Obama that police should be required to record interrogations of murder suspects. This shows that he wants to save innocent victims from being killed and wants to raise awareness about crime. He is humane because he shows that he cares about every person in the world even those who commit crime.

I agree with Obama’s stance on the death penalty and feel it should be changed. It seems like it is the easy way out because it is a quick death. I feel people who committed a bad crime such as murder should have to spend their lives in prison for punishment of their crime. It is unfair for murderers to be put to death right away rather than spend time in prison, paying for their sins. I admire Obama’s enthusiasm and commitment to fight for what he believes in. He is a good leader who shows remarkable dedication to reforming the death penalty.