A Conversation On Capital Punishment

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Capital punishment returned to South Carolina last fall after a multi-year delay – and a lengthy court battle. Since then, five condemned inmates have been put to death by the state – three by lethal injection and two by firing squad.

FITSNews had repeatedly editorialized in favor of the death penalty – both as it relates to the frequency with which it is carried out and the various methods by which it is implemented. We’ve also editorialized in favor of expanding the statutory scope of capital punishment – making more crimes eligible to receive the death penalty.

Bringing a different perspective to this debate is Ally Benevento, an experienced criminal defense/plaintiffs’ attorney with the Columbia, S.C.-based Strom Law Firm. A repeat guest to our studios, Benevento sat down with our founding editor Will Folks this week to dive into the death penalty issue within the broader context of a conversation on justice.

“There seems to be a recent trend toward viewing the harshest possible penalties – or the most extreme penalties in any case, regardless of circumstances, regardless of the person accused or convicted – as the only acceptable outcome, or that is the ‘just’ outcome,” Benevento said. “There does seem to be a trend toward this thirst for – or demand for – extreme punishments or outcomes in all criminal cases regardless of nuance or regardless of circumstances.”

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Benevento and I talked about the nature of capital punishment, its methods, its application, whether it serves as a deterrent to violent crime – or whether its adherents believe deterrence is even the point of carrying it out. We also dove into former president Joe Biden‘s decision to commute more than three dozen capital sentences last Christmas – and briefly discussed the political fallout from those commutations here in the Palmetto State.

FITSNews takes strong editorial positions on numerous issues. Oftentimes, those positions ruffle feathers. But in addition to advancing our beliefs passionately, this media outlet exists to host meaningful conversations – and to open our microphones to those who hold equally passionate views from other perspectives.

“The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas,” legendary supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once wrote. “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.”

We are grateful to friends like Ally Benevento who are willing to engage in that “marketplace of ideas” with us.

To view the entire conversation between Benevento and Folks, click here.

Got an idea for an issue you’d like to see us discuss? Hit us up on our contact page, email our founder directly or post your thoughts in our always engaging comments section below…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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