As he noted in a Washington Post commentary that the U.S. Supreme Court’s “review of Kansas’s death penalty statute seemed to stir more emotion than almost any other case the justices considered this term,” Theodore M. Shaw of the Legal Defense Fund took issue with Justice Antonin Scalia’s assertion in his concurring opinion that no one has been wrongly executed since capital punishment’s comeback. Shaw said that in four cases his group has investigated — of Texans Cameron Willingham, Ruben Cantu and Carlos DeLuna and of Larry Griffin of St. Louis — “it is now clear that the individuals executed almost certainly did not commit the crimes for which they were convicted.” Shaw concluded: “It’s time to recognize that, regardless of our views on the death penalty, any future debates must proceed with the knowledge that we have put innocent people to death.” Still, if Shaw is correct, you have to wonder why “the innocent’s name” has not been “shouted from the rooftops,” as Scalia suggested it would be.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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10 Comments
Did these deaths occur before DNA testing was available?
Given that the death penalty is administered by people, it’s inevitable that there are going to be mistakes made, and innocent people will die at the hands of the state.I would suggest that when these occur, the governor and the prosecutor of that case be made to go to the families (alone and unarmed) and explain to them how such a thing happened, and what they, personally, and the state would do to make things right. If that were the law, we might see fewer prosecutors pushing the legal envelope to execute people, and more care taken in prosecuting capital cases, maybe even the elimination of the death penalty as being too risky to impose.
Da,DNA is like fingerprints in that unexplained DNA must be found at the crime scene that links the crime to a specific person. It was quite useful in rape cases until rapists caught on, and started using condoms. It’s another forensic tool, and a useful one, but hardly a magic crystal ball. Even with DNA, mistakes have been made, results misinterpreted and testimony perjured. It’s no more reliable than the people behind it.
I’m sure the bugs could be worked out of the system. DNA analysis has been a remarkable breathrough when it comes to crime investigation.
Regardless of guilt, the simple fact remains that the death penalty is not more of a deterrent to crime than a simple prison sentence. Given that and the chance of error, the state should not be killing us commoners.
What about the guys who get murdered in prison? How many of them have been murdered by those who have killed before and are serving life sentences? Seems to me that someone doing life without the possibility of parole has nothing to else to lose, so why not kill?
No solution is perfect Damoon. I think the heart of what you are asking come to is the government, which already deprived the inmates of their freedom, responsible for the safety and wellbeing of the incarcerated criminals. Obviously to some extent that responsibility exists but where do you draw the line?
I think in the end you would put the killers you outlined into solitary confinement for the rest of their sentence. It’s harsh, but my rule of thumb on these type of questions is that if we we meant to save them all then Jesus would have. Like Him, we can only help those who seek it. Some people, like the nothing-left-to-lose-killer, just don’t what to be helped. Again, it is harsh but you have to draw a line somewhere.
The death penalty gives me mixed feelings. Using a two-ended rope to take care of the Carr brothers definitely seems appropriate; however I think we need to be damn sure we got the right guys. For that reason old cases (pre-DNA) should be re-examined with the best technology available.
I don’t think life is considered precious unless when you take one, you have to give up your own. That’s only fair.
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves the whole world blind and toothless.”–Mahatma Gandhi–
I don’t want to the murderer to suffer, just lose their life by being put painlessly to sleep forever as payment for the life they took. Why is that not fair?I used to be against the death penalty until I became a mother, now I look at the world through the eyes of a mother bear. I guess some have a hard time understanding that.