Murderers forfeit their right to live. Not their right to be alive, but rather their right to live in society and take part in the freedom that the rest of us are lucky enough to have.

If everything goes as planned, Karla Faye Tucker will be executed Tuesday in Texas. Her crime was no less heinous than most murders. She took a pickax and helped bludgeon two people to death.

Her prosecutors found it very easy under Texas law to get a capital conviction, especially after she testified that she was sexually aroused while swinging the ax.

Now she claims to have had a religious conversion and has an impressive list of supporters. Tucker writes essays and makes video programs aimed at saving kids from lives of crime. This, of course, does not change the fact that she is guilty of murder. However, she is certainly doing more good for society alive than she will dead.

Not every killer is reformed — in fact, few are. Many death row inmates are despicable monsters. If they can’t be reformed, they can still be punished. Putting them to work to pay off their debt to society is sensible.

Prisoners could be sent to the White House as interns. Maybe this would keep both the interns and the president out of trouble. We would certainly get our money’s worth out of the Secret Service.

The Pope makes a good argument against capital punishment. He advocates life sentences because of the incarceration technology we have at our disposal. Part of being punished is experiencing the punishment. Putting murderers to death is putting them out of their misery. What good is that?

As it stands now, the Constitution will not allow murderers to be tortured slowly to death. It must be done fast or it is not humane. So murderers sit on death row several years, thinking they will get off, and when they exhaust their appeals, which cost taxpayers millions, they are swiftly put to rest. Incredible.

Much of the controversy surrounding Tucker’s execution is based on her gender. The fact so many have come forward to try to rescue her from death based on her sex illustrates one of the major problems with the death penalty. It is biased.

Only one woman has been executed in the United States since the reinstitution of the death penalty in 1976. And, members of minority groups are put to death at a skewed rate.

There has never been scientific evidence indicating that the death penalty deters crime. So that argument is out the window. Moreover, it is extremely expensive. According to one study it costs $2.1 million more to argue a death penalty conviction than a life sentence. The cost to incarcerate murderers for life, even long lives, is much cheaper.

All this money is spent to ensure that innocent people are not put to death. It doesn’t work very well. During the first 85 years of this century, 350 innocent people were sent to death row. Of them, 23 were actually put to death.

As long as the death penalty is used, innocent people are in danger of being killed. Innocent people — that is, you and me.

Capitol punishment has much of its emotional appeal among victim’s family members. There are a lot of these people calling for the death of the murderer who ruined their lives. Many of those interviewed about the Terry Nichols case and the Timothy McVeigh case wanted to see them put to death.

It is not hard to find someone talking about how they can only be healed if the person that murdered their loved one fries. To me this is morbid as well as illogical. I question the humanity of anyone who under any circumstances calls for the taking of a life. Granted, these are generally not the most precious of lives, but they may reform like Karla Faye Tucker and have a chance to pay their debt. If not, let them live through their hell.

The brother of one of the people Tucker killed is now advocating letting her off death row. This is a rarity. He seems to understand the pointlessness of killing the woman who killed his sister.

My faith in this society is strengthened when this kind of sensible handling of tragedy is displayed. It sure beats the “Kill the bastard” mentality of the evening news, by which I am constantly bombarded.

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Aaron Klemm is an undeclared sophomore from Woden.