He shuffles down a corridor, a cool breeze blowing on his tired, worn-out skin. A man whose wrinkled face shows all emotion, pain, and triumph he has experienced. Brought to a room where he was belittled to nothing but a  mannequin, shaved head, and eyebrows, so the smell of burning hair wouldn’t disturb the warden. Seated his throne of dread, crowned with a label: murderer, evil, undesirable.  For Hebert Richardson, a Vietnam War veteran sentenced to death in 1989, this was a reality. 

According to a recent study by Professor Katherine Beckett of the University of Washington, “...juries were more than four times more likely to impose a death sentence when the defendant was Black..”, which is true in many recent cases, even when defendants are exonerated. Exoneration from the death penalty, or even an appeal to reverify evidence provided in a case is rare. For Herbert Richardson, an appeal was denied, causing him to make that fateful walk to his deathbed. You could say a similar situation was Jesus’s walk to the cross. He too was deemed a criminal, made to walk his final path where guilt was surfing with shame and shunned for his identity just as Richardson had been. Similarly, Jesus was underrepresented by other Christians, and Herbert was with other African-Americans; the missing key being the relation of identity. A graph created by the Death Penalty Information Center shows that 94.5% of prosecutors (in states that have the death penalty) are white. This means there is almost no representation of African-American prosecutors in death penalty cases.  

Let’s take an example: Theodore Robert Bundy, a man first arrested in the year 1976, when he was arrested for a kidnapping charge, and later linked with a murder spree, however, escaped twice- and the second time was able to avoid authority and kill three more women. He was educated, above-average economic-wise, white male, and charming. A quote from Judge Cowart, “I don't feel any animosity toward you. I want you to know that. Take care of yourself.” after Bundy was sentenced to two charges of the death penalty. The judge said he forgave him after Bundy has confessed to 36+ women he murdered, raped, and mutilated.  Herbert Richardson: low economic standard, alive in a time of blooming with the thorns of racism, received nothing from his judge but a cold stare and a death note. No sympathy, just cruelty. 

You may be thinking, well Herbert Richardson still murdered a woman; isn’t that still a horrible offense? Yes, I agree he should have been reprimanded, however, in a different manner. I believe it would have been more productive to put Mr. Richardson in a lifelong psychiatric treatment for the severe PTSD he received from serving our country, which caused him to be honorably discharged and deemed psychotic, rather than being put to death. Of course, the death penalty is a manner of punishment for a reason, however, punishments are meant to be given by the bias of one set of rules for a variation in different cases, not on the bias of someone’s background. Take Herebert’s case as a way to open your eyes, to see the opportunity to ground our country in safety and promote equal treatment. 

The question is- Bartimaeus chose to be healed by Jesus, to open his eyes to the world around him and describe the things he saw; so will you be healed of the plague that is bias, supremacy, and hatred? Will you allow yourself to be “healed” of prejudice we were taught? We can all be like Bartimaeus, but will you decide to be healed?

Board, Editorial. “Opinion | President Biden, It's Time to End the Death Penalty.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 Jan. 2022, washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/28/president-biden-its-time-end-death-penalty/. 

Katherine Beckett and Heather Evans. 2016. “Race, Death, and Justice: Capital Sentencing in Washington State, 1981-2014.” Columbia Journal of Race & Law 6, 2: 77-114. 

“Mark 8 - New International Version (NIV).” Biblica, biblica.com/bible/niv/mark/8/. 

“Race of Elected Prosecutors in the Death Penalty States.” Death Penalty Information Center, 30 June 2021, deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/race-of-elected-prosecutors-in-death-penalty-states.   

“Ted Bundy.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 15 Sept. 2021, biography.com/crime-figure/ted-bundy.