how many people are currently on death row that are innocent? I have always been for the death penalty. But this book made me rethink my stance. Did it change your stance or confirm the stance you already held?
D L
Favorite Answer
I'm against the death penalty because I think it's too easy. I want murderers/rapists to suffer in jail their whole lives.
HOWEVER, if innocent people are being convicted all the time, then that is a problem with our court system. Not our sentences.
So that shouldn't be a reason to be against the death penalty. The act of convicting an innocent man is wrong. Sentencing a convicted man to death is not. SO the conviction is where the problem lies.
The argument is that people who are on death row who may be innocent, may be killed before the evidence arises.
First of all, cases are closed after the conviction. Police don't continue to gather and analyze evidence to prove innocence or guilt anyway.
Second, people are on death row for years in the double-digits before being killed. So they still have all that time for this unseen evidence to arise if it exists.
UPDATE:
One last point: people who are against the death penalty are against it even when actual murderers are executed. But they use the "innocent people might be executed" argument to get people to agree with their "no death penalty for anybody" ideal. This happens all the time in politics, like PETA saying don't eat meat because animals are abused in factories, when really they would be against eating meat even if animals were treated humanely in the factories. It's finding and hiding behind the lowest common denominator to gather all the support you can for an otherwise extreme stance.
So don't make that your only reason you're against the death penalty, if that's what made you decide to be against it.
Proud Navy Wife
I am against the death penalty politically but personally believe in it. The reason I am against it is because of the number of people who have been on death row or even executed who were proven innocent later. You can give a person back their freedom but you can't give them back their life. If you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt then I am not against it, and it is getting closer to that with the advances in DNA testing. There is no clear cut answer unfortunately. That book just confirmed the stance I already had/have. (Good book though!)
Susan S
It has certainly changed the stance of many people. Did you know that a number of death row exonerees have spoken about the system, and may be speaking near where you live?What they have to say is very powerful. Here is some related information, all verifiable and sourced-
Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence, many having 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 the real criminal is still out there and will have successfully avoided being charged.
Re: DNA
DNA is available in less than 10% of murder cases. It’s not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.
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 about the consequences or even that they will be caught (if they think at all.)
Re: cost
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial. Much of these result from the unusually complicated nature of both the pre trial investigation and of the trials (involving 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court) in death penalty cases. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.
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. Life without parole incapacitates a killer (keeps him from re-offending) and costs considerably less than the death penalty.
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 eye for an eye slogans or partisanship.
urbncwgrl
I've always been for the death penalty but now I can't stop thinking over the years how many innocent people have died before DNA came into the picture. My stance still holds though.
missmayzie
I'm reading it now ; but I changed my views on the death penalty before the book . Many innocent people were sentenced to death . The "Innocent Project" has freed many , many wrongly convicted - found innocent through DNA testing . The death penalty is just wrong anyway .