Play and panel discussion take aim at capital punishment

Sitting on death row, and knowing you didn't do it, must be one the most frightening things possible. Think about losing years of your life, being subjected to the torments of prison, seeing your family crumble because you're not around. Many people do not have to imagine it. They lived through it. Since 1973, 123 people have been released from death row because their innocence was revealed. On Mar. 31, The Scapegoat Theatre Collective brought six of those stories to the stage. The Exonerated, directed by Taryn Strauss, tells the tales of six people wrongly sentenced to death, but narrowly escaping execution. The show opened at the Reid Center in Asheville, and was preceded by a panel discussion on the politics of the death penalty in North Carolina. About 40 people attended the panel discussion. The six-person panel consisted of doctors, lawyers and activists, all opposed to the death penalty. Panel member Jennifer Rudinger, executive director of the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), stated that the ACLU believes capital punishment is unconstitutional. The death penalty, Rudinger contends, violates the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. The racial disparities in capital punishment violate the 14th Amendment as well, guaranteeing equal protection under the law, she said. Referencing statistics that show no decline in murder rates for states with the death sentence, Rudinger said the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, as proponents argue. Actually, she tells the audience, states with the death penalty have some of the highest murder rates. Rudinger also noted that virtually all of the prisoners on death row are poor. Highlighting the irony of the term "capital punishment," she said "only those without capital get punished." Panelist Frank Goldsmith, an attorney and former president of the North Carolina ACLU, said the problems with the death penalty are both systemic and random. Goldsmith pointed out that the quality of court appointed lawyers is often sub-par. For example, he knew of a case in which a man was defended by one lawyer who was an alcoholic, and another who has been reprimanded five times by the state bar association. Another systemic problem is the time allotted to file appeals. Goldsmith said, "If I commit a robbery or jaywalk I have the rest of my life to present evidence against the conviction, but if I'm sentenced to death, I have 120 days." If a lawyer does not file an appeal in time, it is considered "procedural default," thus, the case is closed. Besides systemic flaws, Goldsmith says random occurrences can account for a wrongful conviction. Frighteningly, police dishonesty is a problem, he said. He told the story of a man who was sentenced to death because the police ignored eyewitness accounts and suppressed evidence that proved his innocence. Considering the judicial shortcomings, Goldsmith said, "the system is not fit to be trusted with the decision of life and death." The panel members continued to recount stories and cases that question the legal and moral validity of capital punishment. Panelist Martin Carver, of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, urged audience members to sign a petition requesting a death penalty moratorium in North Carolina. He said, "we are against any state system that sanctions the killing of human beings." The play began shortly after the panel discussion concluded. The simplicity of The Exonerated stage set did not undermine the profundity of the message. With not much more than chairs to sit on, the script, culled from interviews, letters, and court transcripts, provides all that is needed for a powerful social statement on the death penalty. The play has an intended political purpose and is clearly an indictment of capital punishment. Nevertheless, it is a poignant portrayal of unimaginable experiences. Multiple roles of prisoners, lawyers, judges, police and family members were performed by only ten cast members. The players were able to connect with the audience and present controversial subject material, in a manner that at times was both humorous and painful. Though the performances were not flawless, the emotion brought to the roles overshadowed any missteps. Truly disturbing are the losses the innocent endured. The real-life exonerated have had whole families die while incarcerated, have become so institutionalized that they can no longer sleep without nightmares, had their reputations destroyed, and are forever labeled guilty. One man must live with the words "good pussy" forever carved into his backside. Art often represents social issues. And director Taryn Strauss does not shy away from the political inferences of the play. The playbill reads: "The cell walls are awaiting your mistake. Or your confusion, or your bad luck.... Perhaps this is what is finally necessary to stop our pointless imprisonment of drug offenders and innocent Americans, or the horrifying imprisonment of 'enemy combatants' in Guantánamo.... Let us lift our voices for the caged, in anger and in art and in the name of the worth and dignity of all people." Indeed, the play is powerful, forcing the audience to confront deep-seated primal fears. Herein lay the undertone of the political message: it could happen to anyone (of course if you're poor or a minority, your chances increase). Real-life character Kerry, played by Christopher Fox, says: "I'm no different from you. I mean, I wasn't a street thug, I wasn't trash, I came from a good family. If it happened to me, man, it can happen to anyone." The stories told are so random, so terrible, so circumstantial they induce a sense of dread. Loss of life, imprisonment, gang rape, the probability of it happening to you seems so remote, but the statistics, coupled with the raw emotion inherent in the stories, relay feelings of fear, anger, pity and indignation. As political commentary, The Exonerated hits the mark. The director and cast did what they set out to do: make a political assertion about capital punishment. A compelling script and quality acting got the point across. And as the lights dimmed on the performance, the audience stood to give a well deserved standing ovation. Scapegoat Theatre Collective performs The Exonerated at On Broadway, 46 Broadway St. in Downtown Asheville, on Fri., Apr. 7 and Sat., Apr. 8 at 8pm, and on Sun., Apr. 9 at 3pm.