Barbella
Senator
I'm against the death penalty, unless the crime committed is particularly heinous AND guilt can be proven 110%. Not ONE iota of doubt. In other words, the killer would practically have to be apprehended while standing over the victim with the knife still in his hand, still buried in the victim....
That said, research reveals that one in 25 people imprisoned under a death sentence is likely innocent. 1 in 25... that's a lot of people, a lot of lives destroyed. From 1973 to 2004, 1.6 percent of those sentenced to death in the U.S. — 138 prisoners — were exonerated and released because of innocence.
However: more than 60 percent of prisoners in death penalty cases ultimately are removed from death row and resentenced to life imprisonment. Once that happens, their cases no longer receive the exhaustive reviews that the legal system provides for those on death row.
Most innocent defendants who have been sentenced to death have not been exonerated, and many — including the great majority of those who have been resentenced to life in prison — probably never will be."
Buried alive. How horrible. And yet... how to "fix" that? We can't just NOT imprison murderers, and we surely TRY to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But... isn't even ONE innocent life destroyed one too many?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/death-sentence-prisoners-_n_5229094.html
That said, research reveals that one in 25 people imprisoned under a death sentence is likely innocent. 1 in 25... that's a lot of people, a lot of lives destroyed. From 1973 to 2004, 1.6 percent of those sentenced to death in the U.S. — 138 prisoners — were exonerated and released because of innocence.
However: more than 60 percent of prisoners in death penalty cases ultimately are removed from death row and resentenced to life imprisonment. Once that happens, their cases no longer receive the exhaustive reviews that the legal system provides for those on death row.
Most innocent defendants who have been sentenced to death have not been exonerated, and many — including the great majority of those who have been resentenced to life in prison — probably never will be."
Buried alive. How horrible. And yet... how to "fix" that? We can't just NOT imprison murderers, and we surely TRY to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But... isn't even ONE innocent life destroyed one too many?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/death-sentence-prisoners-_n_5229094.html
