A version of this column appeared in the Nov. 10 edition of UT-Austin’s Daily Texan newspaper.
Manny Babbitt was a Marine, a Vietnam War veteran whose demonstrated courage earned him a Purple Heart. Babbitt was a survivor of the battle of Khe Sanh where 737 Americans died and more than 2,500 soldiers were wounded. He was hit by rocket shrapnel that opened up his skull. He lost consciousness and was thought to be dead. Afterthat, he was loaded onto a pile of corpses by helicopter operators, where he regained consciousness surrounded by severed limbs and bodies.
Manny returned from his service in Vietnam suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), exhibiting bizarre and violent behavior. Finally he broke into the home of Leah Shendel, an elderly woman, and beat her. She later died of a heart attack. Manny’s brother Bill Babbitt turned him in to the authorities, believing that he owed it to the larger community and expecting that his mentally ill brother, the war hero, would get the medical attention that he needed and deserved. But authorities responded by seeking the death penalty for Manny. Not long after being awarded a Purple Heart for his service, he was executed one minute after midnight, May 4, 1999, in the state of California. It was his 50th birthday.
Manny’s story is not just a tragic account of a one-time American hero. It is another glaring example of how the death penalty system is broken. Manny’s story is much like those of others who were executed. Coming from a hardworking family of very modest means, he was unable to afford a lawyer who would fight for him to have a fair trial, let alone fight to save his life. Manny’s first lawyer took money from his family and then dropped the case. His second, a court appointed attorney, refused to allow African Americans on the jury, drank heavily during the trial, and was later disbarred from practicing law. Manny’s trial was rife with racial tensions and his own lawyer would later be sued based on claims of racial bias.
It’s 11 years later, and the United States is again involved in another endless and illegal war that has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. According to a March 2008 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a third of veterans returning from Iraq who received care from Veterans Affairs between 2001 and 2005 were diagnosed with mental health or psychosocial ills. Combat stress, exhaustion, and bearing witness to the horrors of war contribute to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can lead to depression, suicide and violent behavior as seen in Manny’s case. Early this year New York Times found more than 100 cases of murder as part of a new wave of nationwide increase in crimes committed by veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, district attorneys around the country are taking advantage of this situation by seeking death penalty and life sentence, rather than providing mental treatment.
We owe the men and women returning home from battle a justice system that is worthy of the sacrifices we are asking them and their families to make in the name of defending democratic ideals. We owe them more than what Manny received: A paucity of services to address serious health issues. The Veterans Administration is far too under-funded to provide adequate mental health care to soldiers.
The money that is squandered on capital punishment could fund hundreds of walk-in storefront Veterans’ Centers, clinics, physical and mental rehabilitation programs, as well as assistance with education, employment and housing. As we are getting reading to start the 2009 Texas legislative session, the state legislature should ban execution of mentally-ill, and replace it with smarter, more effective ways of responding to the tragedy of murder. In this new era of change, we not only owe it to our veterans, but to all citizens, to take a closer look at our criminal justice system and the damage it does to families, and to society at large. A mountain of research over the past 30 years demonstrates that capital punishment does not operate consistent with principles of due process and equal protection of the laws. It did not operate that way in Manny’s case.
