Justice for fallen Angel Breard?

On-line Forty-Niner

April 20,1998

 

The recent execution of a Paraguay citizen in Virginia has sparked some controversy, not just because of the execution itself, but because of the last-minute intervention by the World Court.

 

What is the World Court, anyway?

 

The court was originally established in 1920 and titled Permanent Court of International Justice by the now defunct League of Nations. It became the International Court of Justice after World War II, and is now frequently referred to as the World Court.

 

Its 15 judges mediate disputes between its member countries, which comprise the United Nations. International trade dilemmas are its forte.

 

So, why did the court stick its nose into what is a relatively minor case - not a major international incident? The fate of the condemned man Angel Breard is hardly a matter of world importance.

 

And why the 11th-hour drama? Breard was convicted way back in 1992 of attempted rape and murder. The court has had six years to iron out this mess.

 

This case of capital punishment resembles that of ax-murderer Karla Faye Tucker. She was the Christian-come-lately who, with a legion of followers, begged her Texas captors to have her execution commuted to life in prison.

 

The fact that she was a woman did not prevent her from going to the proverbial guillotine.

 

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Capital punishment is one of those moral paradoxes over which

Americans must struggle.

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Many of those who support the killing of death-row inmates protest abortion outside the clinics of Planned Parenthood. And many of those opposing the death penalty are pro-choice.

 

Even when a person is sentenced to death, he or she will probably die of old age before doctors have a chance to stick poisonous needles into any condemned arms.

 

There are so many appeals to go through, and then all the judicial courts that want to put in their 2 cents. For Breard's case alone, there was the jury that initially convicted him, then there was the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court and the so-called World Court.

 

Another factor is Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who opted to support the World Court's opinion over Virginia's.

 

And last but not least, there is poor Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who had to decide whether to stand his state's ground or cower to the World Court.

 

The World Court soon found out where it could stick its opinion. Virginia got its pound of flesh.

 

It is not that capital punishment necessarily solves anything.

 

If a convict were to live behind bars away from society for the rest of his or her life, the rest of the citizens would be safe.

 

If capital punishment is the way for some states to go, then something should be said to all those who butt in to their business: Butt out!