Jackie Clews

Tuesday afternoon, while driving back from work through downtown Norman, I passed by the Cleveland County Courthouse and saw a few news vans parked outside.

I pulled over, asked what was going on, and found out they were waiting to hear Kevin Ray Underwood’s sentence. I had been following his case and its gruesome details for the past two weeks, and was interested in finding out what would happen to him. Unfortunately, I had to leave for class.

The next day, I hardly could wait to open the paper and find out whether Underwood had been sentenced to life with parole, life without parole or death. The judge, however, still had not announced his sentence.

My roommate and I then began discussing if we thought the death sentence would be the best sentence for Underwood, a man found guilty of the murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin. Recent newspapers have described his grotesque plan to kill, rape and then eat Bolin. According to The Norman Transcript, Oklahoma is seeking the death penalty in the case.

I began to ask myself what I thought the proper sentencing for such an atrocious crime should be. I came to the conclusion: Underwood should be sentenced to life without parole.

As of now, 35 states, including Oklahoma, use lethal injection, nine states use electrocution, 11 states use the gas chamber and lethal injection, three states use hanging and lethal injection and two states use a firing squad and lethal injection, according to deathpenaltyinfo.org. In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution, according to deathpenaltyinfo.org.

One of the primary reasons I think Underwood should be sentenced to life without parole instead of the death sentence is because it would be cheaper.

“[Carrying out the death penalty] is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years,” according to an article in Dallas Morning News.

A former judge in California who sentenced men to death row no longer believes in capital punishment because of how expensive it is.

“It cost 10 times more to kill these guys than to keep them alive in prison,” according to now-retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Donald McCartin.

According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, during his 15-year tenure on the court, McCartin sentenced nine men to death, no longer supports the idea.

“It’s a waste of time and taxpayers’ money,” he said.

Also, according to The Norman Transcript, although Underwood’s Purcell physician diagnosed him with several disorders, psychologist Robert Prentky said Underwood is not a danger to others in prison.

According to the article “It was his professional opinion that Underwood does not pose a continuing threat. Instead, he would be more likely to be beaten up and abused by others in jail.”

Of course, the ethics of capital punishment has been debated since the first death penalty laws were established in 18th century. Many supporters of capital punishment argue what is collectively known as the retentionist position: Revenge, just deserts and protection, according to “Criminal Justice: A Brief Introduction” by Frank Schmalleger.

According to Schmalleger, revenge refers to the closure entitled to the survivors, the victims and the state, just deserts argues that some people deserve to die for what they have done, and protection argues by executing someone, that person is no longer able to commit further crimes.

Those in opposition to the death penalty, however, argue the cliché “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” does not justify taking someone’s life. According to Schmalleger, the six main reasons people are against the death penalty are because the death penalty can and has been inflicted on innocent people, it is not an effective deterrent, it is arbitrary, it discriminates against certain ethnic and racial groups, it is too expensive and it is immoral.

After what Underwood did to Bolin, I have no sympathy for his sentence and do not think he should be cut any slack for moral or ethical reasons. He should suffer just as much as he made Bolin’s parents suffer. According to The Norman Transcript, Bolin’s father had to be sedated when he found out about his daughter’s death.

The Bolin parents are pushing for the death penalty, but I think Underwood would suffer more if sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. Then he would be reminded every day of what he did and could serve as an example.

If I was found guilty of murder, I might see the death penalty as an easy way out so I could be freed from the humiliation of what I did and would not have to suffer living every day without hope or freedom. Someone capable of such a heinous crime should not be allowed to take the easy way out. Plus, is that really where you want your tax dollars to go?

Jackie Clews is a journalism sophomore. Her column appears every other Friday.