why so many people wrongfully sentenced to death in US?

Question

125 people on death rows have been released with DNA evidence that they were wrongfully convicted. Several states like Virginia, Texas, Illinois etc etc have been found to sentence innocent people to death. However DNA evidence has only been available in 10% of cases, where someone was sentenced to execution.

New Jersey few days back banned death penalty. My question is that what is being done to prevent innocents from being put to death?

I do not see any development or progress made on this issue and all i hear is that pro-death penalty folks saying that executions are a must. Why are they a must if such errors are so widespread?

Answer 1

"Why so many people wrongfully sentenced to death in US?" - Because people put a lot of misplaced faith in eye-witness identification. Eye-witness identification is probably the WORST type of evidence that exists.

Answer 2

The judicial system in the States has a lot of problems, the least of which is lawyers. At each level there lie problems, much of which stem from our own personal perceptions and how we allow this mangled system to continue.

For example, witnesses called to the stand go through a level of "grooming." Their testimony is rehearsed constantly to ensure consistency, misleading rebuttals are memorized, both the prosecutor and the defense also handle a lot of witness appearances, like make them where a blue, which to a jury implies honesty. How ridiculous is that? Eyewitness testimony is one of the least reliable.

The media, holy crap, do they ever play a huge role. Guilt by association sells to the public. Ever notice after making a huge deal of one possible suspect that turns out to be innocent they won't write a retraction, let alone an apology?

The police are promoted in part by how many arrests they make - regardless if the evidence supports it. Deals are made with criminals for lesser sentences and leniency in order to information that potentially could lead to another's conviction. Is it any wonder they are so many dirty cops when the pay sucks and they are looking at millions of dollars in drugs and contraband every year?

And there is the people, who are led to believe in the wrong verses the right, tainted by our own opinions and beliefs so there is always bias. Manipulated by all levels of the media, government, and law to believe what they want us to. A man whose daughter was raped serves on the jury of a suspected serial rapist with circumstantial evidence - how do you think he will perceive the case?

Everyone has their opinion of who should be on death row, and if there should even be the death penalty. One thing that is proved is the fact the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime.

So really there is no answer without self-reflection.

Answer 3

The justice system in the U.S. is not designed to find the truth. It is a competitive game that determines which lawyer is better. The Lawyers have perverted the system for their own egos and paychecks.

I am a Republican, NRA member. If someone threatens me or my family I would have no regrets in killing them where they stand. I abhor Gun control, lenient short prison sentences and just about all things leftist. But on this I agree there is too much uncertainty and corruption in our current criminal justice system to allow the state to kill.

Yes I believe that gang members, serial killers, child rapists deserve death but the system for determining guilt or innocence should be fixed first.

Answer 4

The answer is not a simple one. A well known appellate attorney in Orange County once told me that our criminal justice system is not designed to determine innocence or guilt, but to process the accused into jail. I once had an Orange County judge who was an alcoholic who was sober for 40 years tell me that he liked sentencing alcoholics to jail. I think heavy handed and biased judges, who usually come from the prosecutor's office, the desire of the public to be safe from crime, and legislators who want to appear tough on crime, all play into making a system which is broken. Police, who believe the person they have caught actually committed the charged crime, are trained in giving testimony and will lie to convict.

But, I think a more important factor is that the average Joe on a jury has no legal training. They are told that a person is innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to a moral certainty. Yet, when they are actually on a jury, they react not from emotionless critical thinking, but from their gut reaction, which would appear to be much lower burden of proof. (For example, one study showed that attractive people are less likely to get convicted than unattractive people.) Lawyers are trained to focus on the meaning of words words. Juries, which are made up of people with no legal training, do not understand the meaning of the words which lawyers spend years studying.

For example, to most people, the word intent means something one actually intends to have happen. In law, this is akin to a term called specific intent. An example would be burglary. At common law (as opposed to modern law), burglary is the breaking and entering into the dwelling of another at night with the specific intent to commit a felony while in the dwelling -- i.e., when you break into the house, you specifically intend to commit a further criminal act.

However, intent may simply mean the intent to volitionally make a movement. For example, speeding is a general intent crime. All you have to do is intend to put your foot on the gas and drive over the speed limit. You don't have to specifically, recklessly, or knowingly drive over the speed limit. Merely carelessly driving over the speed limit is enough.

Further, jurors are often not trained in critical legal thinking. We are taught in school that the First Amendment guarantees us the right of free speech. However, in the fine print you will find that the type of speech which is "free" is limited. You certainly are not free to incite a riot or to yell "Fire!" in a movie theater (unless there really is a fire!)

The purpose of education is to teach us both facts and how to think. This is necessary for freedom. So, if you want to fix the system, we ought to bring legal education into the high schools of America.

Answer 5

IN THE EYES OF LEGAL SYSTEM KILLING AN INNOCENT MAN IS CALLED "JUSTICE". DISHONESTY IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM IS CALLED "IN GOD WE TRUST".

This is why people all over the world hate us.

Answer 6

because of the jury....oh you should do some reaserch on how many guilty people get off with murder............you would be surprized cough cough oj cough..........