We have executed people by hanging, burning, firing squad, breaking on the wheel, gibbeting, electrocution, lethal gas etc. Today we execute by lethal gas, lethal injections, hanging, firing squad, electrocution etc. Who knows what the politics of death will be tomorrow? One constant is that our justification for state homicide is usually “protection of the public.”

The starting point for this threat assessment was not in the imaginations of the legislator but actuarial tables focused on Florida. Homicide is among the top 5 causes of death for Floridians between the ages of 1 to 34 years. Suicides are listed in the top 5 from 15 to 54 years. Accidents, HIV, and cancer are also threaded through the top five for the same period. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis appear in the top 5 causes for the 45 to 54 age group.

A closer look at the homicide rate reveals some challenging themes. Alcohol related auto accidents kill about 1,000 and injure about 20,000 people a year in Florida. The state of Florida averaged about 900+ murders a year over the last few decades.

A closer look at the homicide rate reveals some challenging themes. Alcohol related auto accidents kill about 1,000 and injure about 20,000 people a year in Florida³. The state of Florida averaged about 900+ murders a year over the last few decades.

The actual numbers may vary depending on who is keeping them, but the trend has been rather constant over the last decade. It does not appear the state has had much success in either identifying the threat or protecting us from murder.

The underlying dynamic of both suicide and homicide is anger: homicide being anger turned outward and suicide being anger turned inward. However, the relationship between suicide and homicide is often clouded by drugs and alcohol.

If we accept the premise that 50%⁴ of criminal activity is drug related, then a far more disturbing picture starts to materialize from the statistics. Alcohol, drugs, and sex are now emerging as prominent pieces on our chessboard.

They share a common function. That is a mechanism to escape reality. A reality hemmed in and exacerbated by flights of fantasy or despair. It is beginning to look as if we need more protection from ourselves than we do from others.

The nexus of alcohol, drugs, sex and anger on our flights of fantasy or despair makes for a passionate and righteous debate. However, the debate stops at the door of the emergency room as they sort out the bloody carnage. The anger, passion and righteousness dissipate in the eternal stillness of the morgue as they sort out the numbers. We go to court seeking closure and restitution when we should be going to a mirror to look at the problem.