The life of David Gale

The Lethal Injection, as the Organization of Death Penalty says “Is the practice of killing a person using a lethal dose of drugs administered intravenously”. Nowadays in the State of Texas they use this way of killing inmates. David Gale, the main character of the movie “The life of David Gale” is a well-known professor of philosophy and a capital punishment abolitionist at Texas University. He is sent on Death Row convicted for the rape and murder of his best friend, who was the leader of the local branch of Death Watch (an organization campaigning against death penalty). Days before his execution, a journalist is sent by the weekly news magazine to conduct David Gale´s final interview. All along the interviews we can see flashbacks from the facts that had already happened and it seems that David Gale is an innocent person who was going to be punished. But finally, after his death and after the journalist proves the innocence of David we realize that all of the crimes were right but saw it from another perspective with the final idea of sending the message of what happens if you kill an innocent person.

Firstly, among the movie, the Retributive Theory of Punishment says that the punishment is justified because the criminal. Secondly, there is a constant question of the brutality of taking the life of a human being in payment for another. All we knew about David Gale is that he is the one accused for the crime until the end of the movie. He is sent to prison because of it and sent to death. But supposing he is the one who to blame, is this the only solution?

Once this type of policy appears we reproduce a cycle of killings where there is one who is being killed by someone and that person is killed by the authorities. So does it have an end? From my point of view, we can consider this attitude as deterrent because to punish someone as an example to create fear in other people of repeating the criminal action. Among in the movie, points directly to the guilty person that provokes a crisis in the viewer’s conscience that makes you consider whether really think someone who has killed deserves to die executed or otherwise deserves to be punished for that.

In my opinion it is not convenient to kill someone who had already killed because there is a no ending solution. A solution might be what  the “Humanitarian Theory of Punishment: rehabilitation” suggests: the criminals should be treated therapeutically, there should be a way to teach the criminal and give it back to society like a “second chance”. In addition to this, we should consider Lewis opinion that says that when someone breaks the law he is deprived of his human rights. Instead of applying justice and punishment, the cure should be treating the criminal as a patient. The contrary for the deterrent way of looking, here you are being used as a life example for others.

In addition, I also agree with the idea that maybe the one who is being killed is innocent. Despite that, it´s better to kill an innocent person and save another ten. It is doing something bad for the right. (The end justifies the means). As Mills wrote, despite he was in favor of Capital Punishment, “if by an error of justice an innocent person is put to death, the mistake can never be corrected… all reparation from the wrong is impossible.” This fact within the topic is important. The Justice has the fullest evidence of guilt before the Death Row. If it is necessary it should go over all the evidence a thousand times. All the contrary, is what had happened in the movie, the facts were not checked and they decided to kill the “innocent man”.

To sum up, the movie “The life of David Gale” claims that capital punishment should be abolished, and it does so on the basis of the Justice System can always make mistakes and kill an innocent person and that maybe we can try to use another way of punishment or treatment. Personally, I agree with the idea that there is another solution and not to go directly to death row. These people should receive treatment.