In high school we did a debate on capital punishment. Out of 400 participants, my partner and I came in second. This was before the internet when we had to use libraries and periodicals to learn about the issue, back when the news seemed to be less about bias and entertainment and it relayed researched facts.

In college, my father went to prison for nine months for a crime he didn’t commit. He served his time, and was later fully exonerated. You can’t sue the government, so his lost businesses and all those legal fees were never recovered. A major blow.

THAT SAID, I would still participate in a capital murder case, if asked, and I would listen with care and intent, knowing the stakes. Juries are the foundation of our system, and I’m not playing god by providing my perception of the facts to the other jurors, or determining a random outcome from nothing. If the case is proven beyond reasonable doubt, so be it.

A murderer who took the life of an innocent is the one who already played god.