Remembering corrections officers this week

In case you missed it, the Guv declared this week Corrections Employee Week in Pennsylvania. This isn't new. It's the 20th year that it's been done. Certainly, our corrections officers deserve credit for doing a tough job.

In particular, it's important to take a moment to remember the DOC staff who are part of the execution team, not only in this state but around the country. Some activist chatter just a few weeks ago centered around the impact of state-sanctioned homicide on those who have to actually carry out the deed. It's not the jury that does it. If the juries had to actually carry out the sentence, there probably would be no death penalty. It's not the judge. It's not the governor or the state legislators who refuse to do anything about the horror of capital punishment. It's a group of anonymous guys who don't make a ton of dough, who work their tails off in a stressful job, who end up seeing the humanity in those our society considers throwaways, who have to deal with the strain of killing another person.

As the Abolitionist has heard it, those on the execution team are overwhelmingly anti-death penalty.

By the way, do you think the Guv is honoring Abu Ghraib guard and SCI-Greene guard Charles Graner this week?