Real Justice Requires More Retribution
As an unapologetic pro-lifer, I nodded my head in approval when I read Indiana carried out its first death penalty execution in 15 years. With the execution of Joseph Corcoran, justice was served.
This stance may appear oxymoronic in today's age of liberal lunacy, but it is the only response if you hold a biblical worldview. Justice, after all, requires retribution.
Joseph Corcoran, 49, was executed by lethal injection on December 18, 2024, for a 1997 quadruple homicide, including the murder of his brother. He confessed to the crimes multiple times. Corcoran shot his victims after they accused him of murdering his parents, which he stood trial for and was found not guilty.
Even though this man had four bodies under his belt, social "justice" activists, including some of the victims' family members, argued against his execution. Corcoran's lawyers wrote in a letter to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb that Joseph was "in the grips of active psychosis." This begs two questions: Have we forgotten the purpose of public executions? Have we lost sight of what justice truly means?
Historically, public executions have been a way to deter criminality. In Ancient Rome, some historians believe people who murdered a family member were subjected to poena cullei, or "punishment of the sack." This involved placing the criminal inside a large ox-skin sack, similar to a body bag, along with various animals, such as snakes and dogs. Then, the sack was dropped into the ocean. Occasionally, wrongdoers were forced to fight wild beasts like lions and bears in a coliseum as entertainment.
In recent times, capital punishment has taken the form of electric chairs, gas chambers, and lethal injections. The most notable execution in modern history was Timothy McVeigh in 2001. His bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 killed 168 people. There was no public outcry or sympathy for McVeigh.
We have spiraled a long way down the slippery slope since then. Our liberal society now carries unlimited sympathy for criminals. Because leftists have convinced many people that we have all been victimized. We are all victims of some sort of ism: racism, colonialism, capitalism, fascism, Trumpism. Since everyone is a victim, no one deserves to go to jail and reap the consequences of their actions.
There was a vigil for Corcoran outside Indiana State Prison, where he was executed.
Erin Hooley/AP
What do you notice about this picture? It's all women. Women's empathetic nature has led to the upheaval of our justice system. I'm not even blaming women for this. God made women empathetic and nurturing for a reason. I blame men for being absent and allowing our justice system to be seized by XX-chromosome emotions.
Justice is the bedrock of a righteous nation. Retribution is a cornerstone of justice. The Bible states:
"Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image." (Genesis 9:6)
Simply put, retribution requires that criminals face the consequences of their actions. Yet in modern America, many convicted murderers serve, on average, half their sentences, and drug traffickers—whose actions often lead to murders—are frequently paroled. Systems like Minnesota's "determinate sentencing" allow judges—often influenced by pro-crime Democrat ideologues—to reduce sentences. They are the party of Defund the Police and Abolish All Prisons, after all.
The Prison Policy Initiative, another liberal anti-prison advocacy organization, claims the nearly 2 million people incarcerated in America is too much.
The truth? It's not enough.
I don't care how many people are in prison when violent crime is on the rise. Local politicians have handcuffed police departments. As a steady stream of illegal aliens who are not vetted flow into our borders, the potential for heinous crimes grows. We are setting the stage for an incident far worse than September 11.
Furthermore, public support for the death penalty has declined, especially among younger generations. While 53% of Americans still support it, this is far below the 80% approval in 1994. This year, states executed 25 death row inmates, and each one faced a great deal of pushback.
Thirty years ago, we had a better understanding of what justice is. Justice requires retribution. Criminals must pay for their actions. Murderers must pay for the blood they spill. Today, many escape full accountability due to appeals or "good behavior." Most return to prison within three years, often for the same crimes. Allowing murderous criminals to walk free because they are allegedly victims of a system propped up by the dastardly white colonial man is not justice. Instead, it is an injustice to the friends and families of the victims. It betrays the safety of millions of Americans, especially our children.
Liberal modernity has convinced many that rehabilitation precedes retribution. I do not want to undermine the importance of helping people recover from whatever mental instability they may be suffering from, especially amidst a culture that promotes recreational drugs, porn, and social media, but bringing a social worker to a crime scene is not the answer. Abolishing prisons and reducing sentences are not legitimate answers. Conservatives have fallen for this trap, as well. There is a rise of right-wingers advocating for the return of insane asylums. Now, I support insane asylums for a wide range of demented and confused human beings. Men who think they can become a woman, for instance. Not murderers.
Murderers should, at the very least, spend the rest of their days in prison. If criminals served their full jail sentences with no opportunity for parole, crime would drop by 50% easily. In a best-case scenario, murderers will be executed for the world to see—primetime specials on all the legacy media outlets.
The last televised execution was the gas chamber death of Robert Alton Harris in 1992, who murdered two teenage boys in San Diego in 1978. The next one should be the man who killed Laken Riley.
Justice requires retribution. Justice needs to be served.
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