If it were proven that an innocent man was put to death?

Question

How would that affect your opinion of capital punishment? Do you think states would place a moratorium (or an outright ban) on executions?

Unlikely? Consider the following Facts on Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations (source: www.innocenceproject.org)

* There have been 194 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States to date.

* 14 DNA exonerees were at one time sentenced to death or served time on death row.

* The average length of time served by those exonerated by DNA testing is 12 years.

* Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of cases where prime suspects were arrested or indicted – until DNA testing (prior to trial) proved that they were wrongly accused.

Answer 1

nope, sorry, sitll doesn't change my opinion on capital punishment. if you kill someone, we shoud kill you back.

Answer 2

There are casualities in every war. This is a war on crime.
Mistakes are going to be made but we are now entering an era where DNA testing is common place especially in capital punishment cases. The cases you spoke of were over 12 years ago. " * The average length of time served by those exonerated by DNA testing is 12 years." Much has changed since then.

And to those who are against capital punishment with the argument of what if it were someone in your family? How would your opinion of capital punishment change if the victim were someone in yours? Sorry, I'm not that forgiving.

Answer 3

There are lots of reasons to oppose the death penalty. It is an issue that needs to be considered using solid facts. Here are a few more verifiable and sourced facts.

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. Many had already served over 2 decades on death row. If we speed up the process we are bound to execute an innocent person. Once someone is executed the case is closed. If we execute an innocent person we are not likely to find that out and the real criminal is still out there.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in no more than 10% of murder cases. It is not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Appeals
Our appeals system is designed to make sure that the trial was in accord with constitutional standards, not to second guess whether the defendant was actually innocent. It is very difficult to get evidence of innocence introduced before an appeals court. (Note to DAR- in all criminal trials, conviction is based on findings of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Standards for conviction are no higher in death penalty cases.)

Re: Deterrence
The death penalty isn’t a deterrent. Murder rates are actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states without it. Moreover, people who kill or commit other serious crimes do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.)

Re: cost and tax dollars
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial.

Re: Alternatives
48 states have life without parole on the books. It means what it says, is swift and sure and is rarely appealed. Being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, forever, is certainly no picnic. (Note to Krista B- take a look the MSNBC programs about supermax prisons before you decide that prison is at all luxurious.)

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Re: Victims families
The death penalty is very hard on victims’ families. They must relive their ordeal in the courts and the media. Life without parole is sure, swift and rarely appealed. Some victims families who support the death penalty in principal prefer life without parole because of how the death penalty affects families like theirs.

Opposing the death penalty doesn’t mean you condone brutal crimes or excuse people who commit them. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are learning the facts and making up their minds using common sense, not revenge.

Lomg answer- important issue.

Answer 4

We can all be thankful for DNA testing. Hopefully, not one more innocent person will spend time in jail or prison; not one more will spend time on death row!
For the most part, I don't believe in the death penalty but there are some crimes that are just too heinous for the person to be allowed to live & perhaps, be freed to kill again. It has happened. Death row conversions I'm a bit leary about. Sure, it happens, but I'm sure it's because they know they are going to meet their maker that makes them convert.
As I said before, there are some things that just don't justify allowing a person to live out their lives even if confined, when they have viciously taken the lives of others.

Answer 5

OK but you're overstating your case.

They don't just round up a random black guy with no record who happened to live a half mile from the crime.

The crime is Suzy was raped coming out of a Quik-Mart and had her throat slit by a left-handed guy. Joe Felon lives upstairs from the Quik Mart and was paroled six months ago after serving six years for raping Betty and starting to slit her throat with a knife held in his left hand before Betty managed to slip out of his grasp and run for help. Joe Felon's juvenile record shows he raped a classmate in high school.

Cops can't find anyone else, Joe has no alibi, Joe ends up being convicted of raping and murdering Suzy.

I'll make a deal with you. Limit the death penalty to second separate felony convictions. If you apply this to present death row inmates I guarantee you it would affect very few of them, and it would almost guarantee that even if he didn't do this crime, the convicted is NOT an "innocent man."

Seriously, what are the odds Joe also didn't rape Betty? Has that EVER happened?

Answer 6

It would be regrettable, but it would not change my opinion on the death penalty. I believe the death penalty is neccesary to keep society safe. There are hundreds of criminals out there that do not deserve to live. They do not deserve to be given hot meals, clean clothes, and a warm place to live for the rest of their lives. Many say that imprisonment is punishment enough. Maybe in medieval times when people were tortured and starved to death. But nowadays death row inmates have better living conditions than the poor and homeless. How is that punishment? Death is the only thing worthy of them.

Answer 7

For people who commit death-sentence crimes in modern times, with all the available DNA science and technology, I'd say it extremely rare if ever that an innocent is put to death. But, prior to this science being made available, I'm quite certain there have been a substantial number of innocents put to death.

Answer 8

I'm sure that someone, somewhere, some time has been put to death who was innocent. That is why we slant the rules so much requiring conviction 'beyond a reasonable doubt' and allow so many appeals. So I guess it doesn't change my opinion that there are circumstances where the death penalty makes sense.

Answer 9

I am against capital punishment, so you don't need to convince me--this is one of the reasons. Another being it costs alot more money to execute someone than it does to keep them locked up for the rest of their lives, and I don't want to spend one extra cent on someone like that. Killing one person doesn't return the victim, nor does it accomplish any positive goal of a civilized society.

For those who think the mistakes are ok, becasue still most of the people who are executed are actually guilty....what if the one wrongfully executed was your mother, child, or you?

Answer 10

I think that a higher standard of proof is needed.

Most of the cases where people slipped through the cracks were cases where the evidence was bad and somebody rail roaded the suspect through the system.

See J. Grisham's innocent man for example.

Answer 11

I'd hate to see what our society would be like without the death penalty. It exists on the basis to deter violent crimes from being committed. How many criminals have confessed to obtain clemency from death?

I'd rather see my tax dollars being spent on executing those who commit truly gruesome crimes, instead of locking them up to live the rest of their lives out in prison "luxury." If you intentionally take someone's life, you should pay with your own.