By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Gov. Andy Beshear and his inspired leadership of our state through tough times. However, I feel this man of faith and compassion is wrong in his refusal to sign a death warrant for a man who killed two law enforcement officers three decades ago.
Conversely, I’m not a fan of State Attorney General Russell Coleman but he is right to keep insisting that the governor sign a death warrant for Ralph Baze, who shot and killed two Powell County law enforcement officers from ambush in 1992.
Coleman filed a motion in Franklin Circuit Court last week with the argument that a 15-year-old court order blocking the signing of death warrants doesn’t apply to Baze’s situation, and that Beshear’s interpretation of the law continues to deny justice to the families of Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Sheriff Arthur Briscoe.
Beshear’s refusal to sign the warrant is based on that 2015 court order. Coleman insists that the governor is obligated under Section 81 of the Kentucky Constitution to proceed with Baze’s execution immediately.
In my view, the application of the death penalty for a convicted murderer who killed two police officers is fundamentally justified by the principle of retributive justice.
The primary purpose of capital punishment in such a case is to ensure the punishment is justly proportionate to the severity of the crime, validating the concept of “lex talionis,” a life for a life.
I feel strongly that the taking of two lives intentionally, especially those of public servants sworn to protect society, represents a crime of ultimate contempt for the rule of law.
Since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States in 1976, only three people have been executed in Kentucky. Two of the three were voluntary, including Marco Allen Chapman, the last person to be put to death, in November 2008, exactly 17 years ago.
Plainly and simply, the death sentence serves a crucial symbolic function that life imprisonment cannot fulfill. It affirms that certain crimes are so heinous they forfeit the perpetrator’s right to remain among the living.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.
