Second attempt to execute Thomas Creech an opportunity to question Idaho death penalty | Opinion

The planned second attempt to execute Thomas Creech on Nov. 13 offers another opportunity for Idahoans to weigh whether the death penalty should be the law of the land in Idaho.

We tend to think not.

The first failed attempt to kill Creech, now 74, earlier this year offers perhaps the best reason the state shouldn't be in the business of killing people.

You might recall that in February, the state called off Creech's execution after trying unsuccessfully for an hour to find a suitable vein to insert an IV for lethal injection.

The results of the state's failed execution of Creech, fortunately, were not as horrific as botched executions in other states.

But there are other good reasons to reconsider the death penalty in Idaho.

Among them is the fact that the state gets it wrong often enough. Look no further than the case of Christopher Tapp, wrongly accused and convicted of killing Angie Dodge in Idaho Falls in 1996.

Angie Dodge's mother initially called on the state to seek the death penalty for Tapp. But after it became clear police had botched the investigation, and that Tapp was innocent, she became one of the most forceful advocates for his exoneration. It's a good thing the state didn't administer the death penalty in Tapp's case, since the real killer was found and convicted 25 years later .

Someone who did come close to execution in Idaho was Charles Fain , who was wrongfully convicted and spent nearly 20 years on death row for the 1982 sexual assault and murder of 9-year-old Daralyn Johnson. Fain was exonerated in 2001 after DNA evidence cleared him of the crime.

Donald Paradis was also sentenced to death for a 1980 murder, only to be exonerated after spending two decades on death row.

Revenge and retribution are understandable natural reactions to the brutal murder of a loved one.

In the case of Creech, there is little doubt that he's guilty of the crimes he's been convicted of.

We acknowledge that the family members of one of Creech's victims have urged Creech's execution.

But revenge and retribution, however understandable, aren't justice.

In a state like Idaho with a strong faith community, one would think society would lean toward the Christian principles of forgiveness and redemption.

We recognize that the death penalty is the law in Idaho, as passed by the Idaho Legislature, which reaffirmed its support for the death penalty by approving the firing squad as a means of execution, and it's the duty of the attorney general and the Department of Correction to carry out the death penalty.

But it's still worth questioning the morality and humanity of the death penalty in Idaho.

Another attempt to kill Thomas Creech should give Idahoans — particularly legislators — a chance to reflect on the death penalty and reconsider whether it's the right thing to do.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman's editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Greg Lanting, Terri Schorzman and Garry Wenske.