The Foreign Service Journal, October 2003

bound to respect American sover- eign concerns. Though their views may, at times, be persuasive, we can- not be bound by them, lest, for example, we find ourselves respond- ing to criticisms of our policies from a U.N. Human Rights Commission whose current chair is a Libyan dic- tator. Rather, we must agree to respect- fully disagree with other countries on the death penalty. We can discuss the issues with them, but when they seek to thwart the laws that govern our people, they engage in the very sort of cultural imperi- alism they normally accuse us of. They don’t want us to tell them what to do in their countries to their crimi- nals, yet they feel comfortable (with an air of supercil- ious moral superiority) advising us what to do with ours. Death is different — it requires different legal mechanisms and a different moral calculus. For this reason we must be cautious in imposing it and America has developed a complex (some would say too complex) series of mechanisms to insure accuracy. But caution does not require inaction. Those outside America who oppose capital punishment urge, in effect, moral equivalency between murder- er and victim. Worse yet, if our con- cept of deterrence is anywhere close to accurate, they condemn countless unnamed and never-to-be-identi- fied victims to acts of violence that might have been deterred. Or, to return to where we began: the argument for the death penalty can be restated in two words: Lee Malvo. And if you need two more, think of victim Linda Franklin. ■ F O C U S 30 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 3 The death penalty is tough on criminals, yes. But any lesser punishment is tougher on innocent people. ◗ Offering workshops and training for transi- tion overseas and re-entry to the U.S. ◗ Providing leadership, social and educa- tional programs for the mobile youth of all U.S. foreign affairs agencies. ◗ Reaching out to children and their fami- lies around the world. ◗ Supporting global responsibility and vol- unteer service by Foreign Service Youth. Combined Federal Campaign For more information about FSYF go to: w ww.fsyf.org Dedicated to Serving Foreign Service Families Worldwide #8488 Foreign Service Youth Foundation