Envision 26-year-old, Ricky Langley, living with friends of a friend due to a strained relationship with his family. After committing a crime, his fate lies in the hands of a small court. Would anybody be able to sentence someone to death so quickly? Not likely, but now imagine what he did. Picture 6-year-old Jeremy Guillory heading over to his best friend’s house to shoot his BB gun, like any other normal child. Ricky allowed Jeremy into the house, but at one point, recognized the damage he could inflict. As days started to pass by, Ricky’s guilt started to develop and he started to help Jeremy’s mother try to find her ‘lost’ son. After a couple of weeks the guilt finally caught up to him and he admitted to his horrific crime. He claims to have molested Jeremy and then choked him to death with a hanger, all while stating he enjoyed it (“State of Louisiana v. Langley”). …show more content…
Should there be retribution for this young boy’s death? Ricky Langley’s death penalty was revoked, and Jeremy’s mother was one of the people to help make that happen. Putting aside her own mother’s instinct to look at the big picture, she recognized the detriment the penalty has on society. Killing one for a crime is not a reasonable punishment and needs to be re-evaluated. The death penalty covers a variety of beliefs leading to an immense controversy over it, however, when strictly looking at the effect on society it has shown to be deleterious. The death penalty was first established dating back to as far as eighteenth century B.C. found in the code of King Hammurabi. Yet, for America the penalty started with great influence from Britain. The first recorded execution in America was “that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608” ( “Introduction to the Death Penalty”). He was executed for being a