An inside look at life in the nation's execution capital

National Catholic Reporter, July 4, 2003 by James Megivern

"Currently we ask who did it and how can we punish them," he said. "But it makes more sense to ask who was hurt and how can we restore them."

The Owenses end their reflections on Huntsville, the death penalty capital of the country, with a positive and "most astounding discovery." Those they have met and interviewed in depth are in positions to know, and they "testify to the fact that many offenders do deeply desire ... to 'come clean.'" The great tragedy is that the system, the state, the culture, the politicians and the media are so totally fixed on exacting revenge that there is no room for even considering any other policy than routinely killing killers. What would be needed for anything else to be tried would be for a critical core of people with enough imagination to envision an alternate society, one that can learn how to "do justly and to love mercy" rather than abdicating their humanity and going along with a system that disposes of fellow human beings as so much garbage.

The book is not an assault on the death penalty as such but a challenge to those who would accept deathdealing as a valid part of the state's ordinary business. Living Next Door to the Death House can indeed result in mindless complacency. But it can also, ironically, lead to a more intense realization of how much the system depends on people agreeing to wear the masks of "bad faith." As the Owenses illustrate, one way to be a conscientious resident of Huntsville (or anyplace else) is to foster "good faith" efforts to find a better way to practice justice. Their book is certainly a welcome contribution to that effort.

James J. Megivern is professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.