Diaz makes compelling plea on death penalty

The Hattiesburg American Editorial, 1/2/9

MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. did not go out with a whisper. He ended his career on the bench with a dissent in the case of Doss vs. State, issued in mid-December, that was a plea to end the death penalty.

Diaz’ argument was primarily a moral one: that society must recognize “even as murderers commit the most cruel and unusual crime, so too do executioners render cruel and unusual punishment.”

Diaz argues that his personal experiences – he was tried and acquitted of bribery while on the Supreme Court – gives him a first-hand view of the “potentially oppressive power of government prosecution.”