Craig Haney's Psychological Secrecy And The Death Penalty

I thought I was firm on my views on capital punishment until we recently covered the topic in class. When asked to write down my original thoughts on capital punishment, I wrote:
I am against the death penalty. I’m against it partly because of my religious upbringing, that condones capital punishment, and partly because I think there’s a possibility someone can be executed when innocent. I don’t really know what the death penalty is about today.
There are a lot of good reasons to be against the death penalty, but I had a particularly strong reaction when the Cheshire home invasion was discussed and to Craig Haney’s Psychological Secrecy and the Death Penalty.
I am from Connecticut and moved to Cheshire about 2 years ago. I have always known about the Cheshire home invasion, but have recently read more about it. The victims lived about 10 minutes from where I live now, and it hard to think that this could have happened to anyone in the area, including my family. I identify with the family—my sisters go to school in Cheshire, we’ve integrated into …show more content…
Towards the end, Haney describes in meticulous detail what it felt like to witness Harris die. I had a strong reaction to this reading, and tried to imagine how I would feel in his position. Harris, despite committing a death penalty-worthy crime, had to endure dehumanizing events awaiting his death penalty. “Waiting for death is dehumanizing,” says Haney. Harris was strapped on to a chair, said goodbye to his loved ones, only to be taken out of the chair and then later endure this situation again. The first time he was brought to the chamber, he seemed as if he was in peace, accepting his death. The second time around, “his face was tired and ashen and his eyes were the saddest I had ever seen them. Once strapped into the chair, he turned and found our group again, but this time he did not