In less than a month, the state of Utah is set to execute Ralph Menzies by firing squad — a man convicted and sentenced to death for the horrific 1987 murder of Maurine Hunsaker.
I want to start by acknowledging the senseless death of Ms. Hunsaker. It is unimaginable that her children, husband and family were robbed of this beautiful human being.
I’m writing not to absolve the killer and his abhorrent acts, but to reflect on a broken system of punishment that perpetuates the very acts of violence it purports to condemn.
Whenever Utah kills, it exacts a profound moral and financial cost on the people in whose name it acts. It also sparks a firestorm of trauma for everyone involved.
Killing a 67-year-old man in a wheelchair who uses an oxygen tank, suffering from terminal vascular disease and dementia, is not justice. It is also inhumane to the individuals who fire their guns at an ailing human being. Many people who were part of past executions say that they’ve had to live with the trauma of the experience ever since. Some even considered or committed suicide.
The death penalty is increasingly considered a relic of a barbaric past that threatens Utah’s reputation. We should not be proud to be part of the global club of executioners that also includes China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and others. We can’t be seen as a state that has lost its moral compass, especially when family values are what makes Utah so unique.
It has been 40 years since Menzies’ horrific crime. For something so ineffective — it is proven not to deter crime — capital punishment is also shockingly expensive. In 2012, Utah legislative analysts estimated that a death sentence costs $1.6 million more than life in prison. Between 1997 and 2016, Utah taxpayers have spent nearly $40 million to prosecute death penalty-eligible cases like that of Menzies. To date, only three such cases have resulted in executions. This would be the fourth. It’s well past time to stop wasting valuable resources that could better serve our justice system and our communities.
If Utah is to continue growing as a global center for business and culture, our baffling commitment to capital punishment poses a major impediment to that effort. When evaluating where to invest, businesses seek out jurisdictions that demonstrate fiscal responsibility, fact-based policymaking and lasting stability — our support of the death penalty and this execution signal the opposite and will undermine the state’s credibility.
I am not alone. More than 500 global business leaders, including myself and others in Utah, have joined the Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty campaign.
I’m proud to call Utah home — proud of the family values that Utah has been built on, our strong economy, vibrant communities and bright future. The continuation of support for the death penalty and planned execution of Ralph Menzies is a step backward that should trouble all of us. It will certainly trouble the rest of the world to see someone in a wheelchair without comprehension of what is happening get killed by a firing squad.
We must urge our leaders to halt this execution and to end our support for the death penalty.