THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE PRIVY Council claims that it has no "doctrinal disposition" against the death penalty. ("Privy Council admits that some decisions prevent death penalty" December 20, 2002).
What absolute and obvious nonsense. The Privy Council's decisions against the death penalty indicate that their Judicial Committee has become a de facto legislature.
When the Privy Council decided that it was inhumane punishment for prisoners to serve more than five years on death row, their specific intent was to commute all death sentences and to make it all but impossible to ever execute anyone again. Even if and when death row appeals could reach the Privy Council before five years, does anyone doubt that their decision would not be final until after five years, thereby resulting in a mandatory commutation of sentence?
There is no doubt that the death penalty saves innocent lives, through both enhanced incapacitation and deterrence.
It is time to remove the Privy Council from its legislative dictatorship over Jamaican legal issues.
I am Resource Director of Justice for All a criminal justice reform organisation in Houston, Texas. Our focus is solely on violent crime issues and what we can do, within the criminal justice and legislative systems, to lessen injury to the innocent and to prosecute the guilty. To accomplish that goal, we are actively involved in community education, elections, legislation, victim's rights issues, including our involvement in many individual cases.
I am etc.,
DUDLEY SHARP
sharpjfa@aol.com
Houston, Texas
PO Box 55159
Via Go-Jamaica
