Clarence Dixon's death should be must-see TV

The state of Arizona is about to kill Clarence Dixon, but you won’t see it on TV.

The state’s largest newspaper isn’t allowed to witness his execution, and the public isn’t being told who in state government will witness Dixon’s dispatch to hell or wherever it is that murderers go.

It’s almost as if we’re ashamed of what we are about to do. As if that which is being done in our name and with our sanction is just too ugly for the public to witness.

I, for one, will not shed so much as a single tear upon the departure of this man who raped, strangled and killed 21-year-old Deana Bowdoin. She is and forever will be the victim here.

But it does occur to me that we, in whose name Dixon is being killed, should be able to witness his execution, if only to ponder what is to be gained by killing him.

Why are we killing Dixon? Because we want blood

Is to protect society? That doesn’t seem likely. Dixon, 66, is blind and frail and there is no way he will – or should – ever again walk free.

Is it to teach him the error of his ways? Hardly. The man suffers from serious mental illness.

Is it to send a message to other would-be murderers? If so – if putting someone to death 44 years later does, indeed, serve as a deterrent – then surely it should be on TV for future murderers to witness.

Is it to mete out justice? All the more reason to open it up to public viewing, so that we can see what the government is doing in our name. So that we can witness how morality is rooted in an execution when it is sanctioned by the state.

More likely, what is being done this morning in your name and mine is being done to satisfy our lust for revenge.

It’s a pity, really, that the state of Arizona won’t let us see what justice looks like. How we will put a blind, mentally ill man to death for a crime he may not even understand.

We should at least be honest here. We are killing Dixon not because he is a threat or because it will deter crime and certainly not because it is the noble and moral thing to do.

We’re doing it for because we thirst for his blood. An eye for an eye, or in this case, a life for a life.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Clarence Dixon's execution should be must-see TV