For Every 10 Executions, 1 Death Row Inmate Is Exonerated ... Are Juries Competent Enough To Reasonably Discern Guilt?

[totsuka]

I don't have faith in our justice system anymore and consider it very corrupt. We lock up too many people for minor crimes and our prisons are just breeding grounds for future criminals.

[Troyfan]

I don't know if that 1 in 10 error rate holds water. A conviction may be overturned but the criminal still may have committed the crime. A long time ago I read a (report of) a study that claimed that not even one executed criminal was innocent of the crime he was educated for. They found this by reviewing each crime which resulted in an execution from 1900 to 1960 or 1980, I really don't remember.

I'm much more concerned about probation, which is demonstrably a much more dangerous practice to society than capital punishment ever could be.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by markg91359

I'm coming back to this after a month and reading it in the context of your other posts where you repeatedly defend the death penalty.

What is your position exactly?

I'm in favor of it in certain situations.

Originally Posted by markg91359

1. Its ok to give people an inadequate defense at trial and than execute them?

Is it ok to give people an inadequate defense at trial and then lock them up for the rest of their life?

Is it ok to give people an inadequate defense at trial and then lock them up for 30 years?

Originally Posted by markg91359

2. All the 81 people who have been exonerated from death row in the last couple of decades through DNA evidence were really guilty or deserved to die anyway?

I'm only aware of one case where a person has been executed who didn't commit the crime.

I'm aware of a ton of situations where people have been taken off of death row.

It looks like the system is working. Although, I would like to see many changes made.

Originally Posted by markg91359

3. Whenever someone brings up a case where someone is innocent try to justify the death penalty by talking about some horrific crime where the offender was guilty? That doesn't address the problem here. Every single person in this country is deemed innocent until proven guilty.

I'm not quite sure what you are saying here. Please change the wording so I can understand what you are trying to get across.

Originally Posted by markg91359

I can only support the death penalty if adequate funding and resources are made available to a person charged with a capital crime to get real representation at trial and on appeal. Otherwise, I say sentence everyone to life without parole.

Considering the number of people who get off of death row and the number, or lack thereof, of bad executions, it appears as those there is adequate funding and resources.

Originally Posted by markg91359

Honestly, the most offensive people here are the ones that support the death penalty, but don't believe in paying for someone charged with a crime to receive a real defense to those charges. That defense also includes representation during subsequent appeals deemed appropriate by the courts.

I have yet to see any such post where someone supports this view.

So, for me, the most offensive people here are the ones who get all emotionally freaked out and imply falsehoods and make crazy assumptions.

[VistaCat]

Originally Posted by totsuka

I don't have faith in our justice system anymore and consider it very corrupt. We lock up too many people for minor crimes and our prisons are just breeding grounds for future criminals.

Agreed. It is more about getting a conviction and moving on than getting the right person convicted. I know several instances personally where this was the case. Innocent people are made to look guilty, the media jumps on board immediately to sway public opinion, as does social media, and society has a person guilty before they've had one word to defend themselves.

The fact that there is DNA to prove innocence of convicted felons proves without a doubt that the system is flawed. And how many people, prior to DNA testing, were put to death innocently?

The other thing is the issue of plea deals. There should be no such thing. Did the person do the crime or didn't they? To move the case along - they will try to get the person to plea to a lesser/different crime. Often an innocent person will go for it because they are afraid, or don't have the money to defend themselves. This is especially true if they can't afford bail money and are sitting in jail until a trial. They just want to get the Hell out of there.

Those who are poor and are locked up for small offenses that someone with money could make bail on - are now forever part of a system that will keep them down. They will fall in with the wrong crowd, be forever marked and probably not be able to find decent employment. So now you have someone that maybe made a stupid mistake destined to be a repeat offender because they have no other way to survive. And prison gives them all the skills to do so.

[Simtropico]

Originally Posted by ImMovingVerySoon

What if you walked someone to their death who was innocent? I think that you and EVERYONE involved at the very least should be convicted of manslaughter. One of my biggest regrets about their not being divine judgment is there's probably not going to be a hell for people like you to burn in.

Its his job to walk a convicted murderer to his death.

He isn't the one killing anyone.

How would he KNOW that the condemned man was innocent?

Why would you condemn an innocent man to hell?

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by PedroMartinez

I'm only aware of one case where a person has been executed who didn't commit the crime.

I'm aware of a ton of situations where people have been taken off of death row.

It looks like the system is working. Although, I would like to see many changes made.

I can name 2 in the state of South Carolina alone.

Thomas Griffin and George Stinney.

Now.. Both of those cases were black people up against all white juries in 1910's and 1940's. Different time entirely.


But.. Even being pro-death penalty myself.. I have serious concerns about it and EVEN ONE wrongful execution is far too many. Anyone sentenced to death on an 'eyewitness' ID, I have a problem with.. We've seen how bad those are.

I'd say, save it for the slam-dunk cases.. But the slam-dunk cases are normally pled out to life in prison to avoid the death penalty.

So.. I guess maybe save it for the worst of the worst? Boston Marathon bomber? But is that a 'slam dunk' case?

There are corrupt people out there in the criminal justice system. What's that one county in Texas that's had something like 40 convictions overturned.. Dallas County.

The Innocence Project - Dallas County Cases Where DNA Has Proven Innocence

That's from 2009.. There's been another 20 or so in the 5 years since then.

Another example.. At least one that most people have heard of.. The West Memphis 3.. Echols was on death row in that case.