Manuel Valle

Post date: 08-Sep-2011 02:21:39

As a Muslim I believe in punishments being equitable to the crime and that a convicted criminal might for some crimes face the death penalty. However, this does not mean that every convicted killer should face the death penalty and there are many reasons why someone should not be executed.

Manuel Valle killed a police officer and was sentenced to death 33 years ago. It was a fair and equitable sentence then but his victim did not face the torture of 33 years of waiting to be killed. His victim was not repeatedly told he was going to die, led towards a place of execution and back when a last minute stay was granted. For this reason Valle's execution has ceased to be a just and equitable punishment. Instead it has become an inhumane and unnatural punishment inflicted upon a 62 year-old man who has been confined for more than three decades. Add death to the time spent in prison and the punishment is a greater wrong than the crime.

I mentioned this case to a friend and they asked, "What would America be saying if this were happening in Iran or Pakistan?" Perhaps they would question whole nations for the flaws in a legal system or the errors in due process that have turned a just verdict into a moral disaster for the State of Florida. Sadly Mr Valle is probably worth more votes dead than he is alive and in a democracy votes are very important which is a pity because justice is from Allah (swt), priceless.