Greenville, N.C. - Some call it the ultimate justice. You'd expect the death penalty to be sentenced fairly and equally, but David Kaczynski and Bill Babbitt say that's not the case. They say their experience proves it.
"When it comes home, when it's your brother that's lying on the gurney, when it's your brother being killed in your name, it takes on a whole different perspective," said Bill Babbitt, member of the Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation.”
At St. Augustus Church that Kaczynski and Babbitt spoke. They say the problem isn't with the death penalty itself but the inconsistency in the rulings.
The two men are visiting cities in eastern North Carolina to raise awareness for a bill that would cap the punishment for murder to life in prison without parole for those who have a sever mental illness at the time of their crime.
Like Kaczynski, Babbitt turned in his brother for a murder, but unlike Kaczynski his brother got the death penalty.
"It's got to be given in a way that's even handed and fair so that every defendant gets the same measure of justice and we certainly don't see that happening with the death penalty," said Kaczynski.
Proponents for the current death penalty system say people are already in place to measure that justice.
"They believe that mental illness and its contribution or part in any kind of crime should be addressed by a jury," said Peg Dorer, Director of the Conference of District Attorneys/
Less than one percent of people who commit murder in North Carolina are sentenced to death.
Kaczynski and Babbitt hope the bill will ensure those with a sever mental illness are not in that percentage.
For more information, just type in the keywords “Death Penalty” right here on wnct.com.
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