NCJ Number
98817
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This film dramatizes the issue of capital punishment in an emotional dialogue between four people stranded at an airport.
Abstract
As three stranded passengers engage in conversation about who they are and what they do, they invite a fourth man to join them. When he identifies himself as a 'hit man' the topic of conversation changes to death and murder. The salesman is concerned for his own welfare. The reporter seeks additional information after stating 'I don't condone crime, I just report it.' The ethics professor argues that human life is sacred. Upon learning the 'hit man' is a state executioner, a debate ensues between the professor and the reporter about the right of the state to take a life. The professor believes that (1) there are some crimes for which one forfeits the right to live; (2) capital punishment is a deterrent; and (3) the state seeks justice, not revenge. The reporter argues the opposite by pointing out the taking of one life via an errant jury is one too many. The executioner, bitter at the treatment he receives from ordinary citizens who discover his occupation and filled with guilt about killing in the name of the all the people, demands that his companions vote on whether or not he should carry out the next scheduled execution. The salesman, the reporter, and the professor each cast an abstaining vote.