I received the above book yesterday, when I visited a homeschool sale and the book was being offered for free. I found it a fascinating, disturbing, and compelling read, and since I was feeling a bit sick I gave myself permission to read for hours, so I finished it by bedtime.
First question is: who is Karla Faye Tucker? Answer: she was a convicted murderer who was executed by the State of Texas in 1998, and had the dubious distinction of being the first woman executed in Texas in 35 years.
This book is written by a dear Christian friend who met Karla while ministering at the prison where she was being held. Linda visited Karla at least yearly for more than a decade, and more often at the end of Karla's life as her execution date approached.
The book is really good. So...first off, Karla very definitely committed the murders. She was high on drugs and full of hate when she and another man broke into an acquaintance's house one night to steal motorcycle parts. The owner and a friend of his were home, and both were brutally murdered by Karla and her friend.
Karla became a Christian while awaiting trial for first degree murder. She believed both in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, and also realized she needed to speak truth. So she pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to death in 1984. She wasn't executed until 1998, which just shows how SLOWLY the justice system grinds along in death cases.
I could say a lot about this book and my thoughts are jumbled, so I'm just going to throw out a few things.
One is...I feel better about Karla's execution because she was definitely guilty. It can be argued that the state shouldn't execute people but I don't necessarily agree. I think the death penalty can be appropriate. I DO find it unnerving that people are sometimes discovered to be innocent of a crime long after they were found guilty. If someone is executed and is really innocent, that is awful. Horrendous. At least in Karla's case, there was no shadow of a doubt that she was guilty. She admitted very openly that she committed her crimes.
Two, the slow process of execution seems like one of the worst things about capital punishment. Maybe this is just me, but wow...for the death sentence to take more than a decade to carry out seems like cruel and unusual punishment. I guess this is typical for death penalty cases. Lawyers know what to file and there are numerous appeals and it all takes tons of time.
One of Karla's friends on Death Row was 2 days from execution when she was granted a stay of execution. The government later commuted her sentence to life in prison, so she'll die in prison but won't be executed. I am not sure that is better, honestly -- if one is a Christian, being with Jesus SEEMS better than being stuck in a maximum security prison for the rest of one's natural life.
But that brings me to another point. Karla was in prison for 15 years before she was executed. Other men and women spend their entire lives in prison for murder (and maybe other crimes?)
To me, that seems like such a wasted life. But really, we all are living under a death sentence, aren't we? I mean, we're all going to die, unless Jesus comes back first. Karla and her Christian friends had a real and powerful ministry behind bars. Interestingly, Karla's vibrant faith proved to be incredibly helpful to those who came in to minister to HER and the other Death Row inmates. The author's son, who struggled with a drug addiction off and on through his young life, met Karla and she helped turn him around as she had also battled drug addition. Another friend learned about forgiveness through Karla.
Linda Strom claimed that hundreds of people through the 15 years of Karla's time behind bars met her and many were profoundly changed by her. That sounds like a valuable, useful ministry in spite of the fact that she was locked up away from the world.
I think one unnerving thing about the book is that it opens a door to a whole culture that I am dimly aware of, but which I don't really understand/ I mean, of course, prison culture in general and Death Row culture in particular.
I have always liked to be in control. I am a first born engineer. I think the part of Karla's story that sounds the WORST is having basically no control about anything. Prison has a lot of rules and many of them are oppressive -- not necessarily out of cruelty, but because prison is full of dangerous people who will hurt each other and the prison personnel if given the chance. It is also a place full of many sad and angry people. Karla's early life was truly horrible, with abuse and drugs and alcoholism and fighting between her parents. That doesn't excuse what she did at all, but it IS true that children in abusive, dangerous homes are more likely to get in trouble with the law. So prisons are full of hurting people.
I might add more later but the kids need me. This is a good book. A thought provoking book.
More thoughts (Monday morning now...)
I've thought off and on about the death penalty during my life. I don't necessarily feel like I've "nailed down" my view of execution, partly because I don't feel the need to. Let me wander off on a tangent at this point.
So the world is full of all kinds of issues. There are some that directly result in specific choices. Homeschooling is a fine example. Kevin and I started researching homeschooling before our first child was born. We knew at some point, Naomi would need educated (as would all her sibs) and we needed to figure out how and where she would be taught. We decided homeschooling was right for our family.
Some issues, like global warming, don't affect my daily choices nearly as much. I'm not sure about global warming. There are valid scientific data from both camps. I haven't made the time to investigate global warming (and by this, I mean MAN MADE global warming) in great detail. Why? Well, because it doesn't fascinate me, and it doesn't affect my choices. I guess a strong man made global warming advocate would say Kevin and I are leaving WAY too large a "carbon footprint" by having a bunch of kids. We believe, with all our hearts, that God called us to be open to a large family, and every one of our children is a specific blessing from Him.
Right now, I have the general feeling that man made global warming isn't the issue that many say it is. Maybe I'm wrong. If so, it doesn't affect my moral decisions very much. It isn't really a "voting" issue for me, because my litmus test issue when I vote for a political candidate is that I'm ardently pro-life. Many global warming advocates are so called "pro choice" (not that I prefer that term, since many women who have abortions feel they have NO choice) and that means I won't vote for them.
So I don't feel like I need to totally "figure out" global warming.
It is similar with the death penalty. My views on the death penalty will not change my behavior, I think. I mean, I guess if some nutjob politician was advocating the execution of every person in jail, obviously I would vote against him/her. But one thing the Karla Faye Tucker book showed was that the death penalty, when administered, is done rarely with plenty of appeals.
This morning, this minute, I am feeling "anti death penalty." I think the reason is that I don't trust the system. The woman who was executed in Texas AFTER Karla Faye Tucker apparently had a pretty incompetent state appointed attorney, who was rebuked by the Texas bar 5 times.
I have a wispy memory of a story I read in the last year. A woman named Gloria was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, or something like that (she was not sentenced to death.) 15 or 20 years into her sentence, she became friends with a woman who was ministering to prisoners. This lady is the mother of some celebrity(I think an athlete) and was rich. Well, this woman (I'll call her Joan, which isn't her name -- I'm just tired of saying "this lady") came to the conclusion that Gloria was possibly innocent. So Joan started an investigation into Gloria's case. Joan spent $100,000 of her own money and eventually discovered, without a shadow of a doubt, that Gloria WAS innocent and that state prosecutors had lied and deceived to get Gloria convicted. Gloria WAS released, but it would never have happened if her friend didn't intervene. It was a disgusting travesty. The truth is, the system is broken. Sadly, many prosecutors are all about "winning cases", not discovering the truth.
So that's my main concern with the death penalty, though I guess of course it spreads across the criminal justice system. Those who are poor and disenfranchised won't be able to hire really good defense attorneys. We KNOW there are innocent men and women locked up in prison for crimes they didn't commit. At least if they are still living, we can set them free if the truth comes out.
Though as I said, a life in prison seems way worse than dying and being with Jesus. And as I said earlier, at least we know Karla Faye Tucker was guilty -- which is a relief.
So, rambling thoughts on a Monday morning on a myriad of topics. Have a blessed day!
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