Alright folks, gather ’round because we’re about to dive into the magical mystery tour that is the American death penalty. And by “magical,” I mean completely baffling. This week, five people are scheduled to be executed. Five people. It’s like the U.S. is trying to play catch-up because it realized it hasn’t been killing enough people lately. You know, in case anyone’s keeping score.
Let’s set the stage here. Five men—four of whom are Black, because of course they are—who have been waiting 20 to 30 years for their date with death. These aren’t spur-of-the-moment executions. No one’s walking in like, “Oops, did I miss my appointment? Guess I’m dead now.” No, these guys have been hanging around so long that they’ve become part of the prison furniture.
Meet Our Long-Delayed Death Row Crew
First up: Marcellus Williams. This guy has been on death row since *2001* for a murder he supposedly committed back in 1998. Now, here’s where things get spicy: DNA evidence on the murder weapon doesn’t even match him. It’s like Missouri decided, “Eh, close enough,” and just kept the execution date. “We scheduled the lethal injection, we’re not turning this train around!”
Williams was convicted by an almost all-white jury—because why not pile racial bias onto shaky evidence? It’s the American way! Williams has been waiting over two decades while the state twiddles its thumbs, completely ignoring the science that might exonerate him. Look, Missouri, if you’re gonna kill someone, can you at least make sure you’ve got the right guy? This isn’t the DMV; we’re not asking for minor paperwork corrections here.
Next: Freddie Owens. Executed just days ago in South Carolina after spending over 20 years on death row. Owens was convicted of killing a store clerk during a robbery back in 1997. He’s been behind bars so long, a kid born when he committed the crime could now be graduating college. But hey, the state finally got around to it! We know how busy they’ve been. Maybe they were really, really swamped in the ’90s.
Then there’s Emmanuel Littlejohn. Oklahoma’s finest, folks! He’s been sitting on death row since 1992. Thirty-two years. Thirty-two! I’ve seen less time invested in SUCCESSFUL marriages. Littlejohn was involved in a robbery gone wrong, and while he didn’t pull the trigger, he’s been waiting over *three decades* to face execution. Three decades to ponder whether the state will ever get its act together and remember they still want him dead.
Next up is Michael Anthony Woods, scheduled for execution in Texas after 25 years on death row for a double murder from the late 1990s. I imagine Texas just opened some filing cabinet and went, “Oh right, we still have this guy! Quick, somebody fire up the lethal injection machine.”
And lastly, James Barber, who’s been on Alabama’s death row since 2001 for the murder of an elderly woman. Twenty-two years behind bars, waiting to die, and Alabama finally decides, “Yep, it’s time.” Nothing says justice like waiting so long that everyone’s forgotten what this was even about.
20-30 Years on Death Row—Are You Kidding Me?
Here’s where things get truly absurd. We’re talking 20 to 30 years of waiting. By the time the state gets around to these executions, they’ve been so delayed, it’s like a really bad sequel no one asked for. Imagine telling a murderer, “Yeah, you’ll pay for this… just not yet. In the meantime, here’s a free room with a view of concrete and iron bars.”
But here’s the question: If these people have been in prison for decades, doesn’t that mean prison works? They’ve been incapacitated this whole time. No one’s breaking out of a maximum-security facility to go on a murder spree. Clearly, the danger has been neutralized. So why kill them now? You’ve already achieved the goal of keeping society safe. And let’s not pretend the death penalty is about rehabilitation. The death penalty is less about rehabilitation and more about…decoration. “Look, we did something!”
The Myth of Deterrence
And let’s kill this myth once and for all—the death penalty doesn’t deter crime. It’s not like some would-be murderer is sitting at home, thinking, “You know, I was totally going to commit this heinous crime, but I’ve heard there’s a 15% chance I might be executed… in about 30 years. So, nah.” I hate to break it to you, but criminals aren’t exactly spending their nights reading legal journals about execution rates.
If the death penalty were such a great deterrent, states like Texas would be *crime-free utopias* by now. And yet, here we are, executing people decades after their crimes and still dealing with the same societal issues we had before.
The Racial Bias—No Surprise Here
And here’s the part no one should be shocked by: four of these five men are Black. In a country where Black people make up only 13% of the population, they represent over 40% of death row inmates executed over the past 30 years. If you’re Black and convicted of murder—especially if the victim is white—you’re far more likely to end up on death row than if you’re white.
I mean, I don’t want to say the death penalty is racist, but if it were any more racially skewed, it’d be a Jim Crow-era law with a cowboy hat. The numbers don’t lie. If you’re Black, your odds of being sentenced to death are significantly higher, especially if you killed a white person. Coincidence? No. This is systemic bias with a syringe full of poison at the end of it.
What’s the Point?
At this stage, you have to ask: What’s the point of all this? It’s not about deterrence. It’s not about keeping society safe, because these people have been incapacitated for decades. And it’s sure as hell not about justice anymore. We’ve turned the death penalty into a long, drawn-out bureaucratic nightmare that costs more than just keeping these people in prison for life.
The truth is, the death penalty is about one thing—vengeance. It’s about satisfying this primal need for someone to pay with their life, even if that payment doesn’t come due for 30 years. At that point, it’s not justice. It’s state-sanctioned revenge, wrapped in the illusion of due process.
If you really think the death penalty is about swift punishment, you’re living in a fantasy world where the DMV runs like a well-oiled machine. These five guys have been waiting longer than some people have been alive. And when the state finally gets around to it, we’re all supposed to cheer for justice served? Please.
In the end, the death penalty is like a tragic joke—except no one’s laughing, and it’s costing us millions to maintain this broken system. We’re not making the country safer. We’re not deterring crime. All we’re doing is keeping a system alive that’s outdated, ineffective, and deeply, fundamentally unjust. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop pretending this is justice at all.
