Is is possible to reform the death penalty. (legal, accuse, crimes)
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There have been over 150 cases where individuals were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death only to have their sentences reversed based upon new evidence. Recently two cases have raised doubts that two men were wrongly executed. Most death penalty opponents believe that the system is irreparably broken despite attempts to reform the administration of this ultimate punishment. Is is possible to reform the death penalty process to insure that the innocent are spared and the guilty are punished?
I believe you can, but I think it requires counter-socializing people, or at least educating them. There are many myths and misconceptions held by the general public. Any attempt to reform the system is going to require a multifaceted approach.
One thing that would help immensely is eliminating "qualified immunity" for prosecutors and police.
This is something that is not well understood by the general public. There is no law per se regarding "qualified immunity." This concept is a matter of case law that evolved through the court system over the years.
The problem started with the filing of numerous frivolous complaints by incarcerated defendant seeking appeals or re-trials, or monetary damages from violations of their "civil rights."
"When I met with the prosecutor pre-trial, he offered me a soft-drink and gave me a Coke instead of a Diet-Coke."
You all can laugh if you want, but I'm not making that up. That is the level of stupidity at work here, and these cases were clogging and back-logging the courts.
So the legal concept of "qualified immunity" emerges to protect prosecutors and then ultimately it is extended to the police.
I don't have an issue with it, but I do have a problem with its application. It was never intended to protect prosecutors and police from intentional (premeditated) misconduct.
The result is that prosecutors (and police) who tamper with witnesses, coerce or intimidate witnesses, withhold exculpatory evidence and so on are not punished for doing so, and that leads to innocent people being convicted of crimes they did not commit.
What needs to be done at State level is codifying "qualified immunity" into law and providing explcit exclusions where it should not apply, like in the situations where prosecutors or police engage in misconduct and that misconduct is detrimental to the accused.
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