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How many innocent people got the death penalty in Iraq, AFTER Saddam was removed?
That is not the topic of this thread.
I could make the same off-topic post... how many hundreds of thousands of innocent people did Saddam have murdered before he was finally stopped?
It unfortunatley happens, here's a few reasons why:
1. Unreliable or vengeful witnesses. It is impossible to tell whether or not someone is lying or telling the truth if there is no other evidence.
2. Death or a walk. Sometimes those are the only two options, and people would rather give a death sentence than let someone get away with murder, even if there are doubts about their guilt.
3. Emotion over evidence. Sometimes (Scott Peterson is an example) there is no reliable evidence, and people are convicted based on jurors emotions rather than the evidence.
4. Some lawyers are more concerned with winning cases, rather than seeing if justice is done.
5. Victim impact statements may sway jurors to impose a death sentence even if there are doubts about guilt.
Well said. The system is imperfect. Illinois has a moratorium on death sentences. This was done by our former Repbulican governor and is still being enforced. Here's a story on one of the cases. This man was set free after serving years in jail, on death row.
CNN - Student sleuths help free Illinois death row inmate - February 5, 1999 (http://www.cnn.com/US/9902/05/wrongly.convicted/index.html - broken link)
=painless death. If in Illinois alone, those 15 innocent people had been executed swiftly, publically, and with great pain, would their personal sacrifice effectively save 1000's of other innocents per year?
We need to quit damning the death penalty, and start damning the guilty even if an occasional innocent (not very likely) is accidentally included. I believe that as gasly that seems, we would cut our murder rates by 10's of thousands per year.
See this is completely unacceptable to me. Our founding fathers recognized the fact that it is better to to let 10 guilty men go free than to let one innocent man be convicted (I dont know who exactly said that but that is the premise part of our constitution is based on). I agree throw the book at the guilty but that shouldn't include the death penalty (IMO).
Besides that, the death penalty is no more likely to deter crime than life in prison. At least with life in prison there is hope for that innocent man. Death is final.
This is why we have a lengthy appeals process. The fact that a few innocent people have been released from death row proves the system works. Keep in mind that very few of those released as "innocent" were in fact factually innocent of the crime. Most were released for technical issues.
IMO, the appeals process is far too long and is unfair to the victims family. It should be one and your done.... literally.
I think the DP would be more effective if we limited the instances where it was asked for. Save it for the times where guilt is so overwhelming no sane person could vote not guilty. Instances where the killer was caught on film, overwhelming physical evidence, multiple, independant eye witnesses, ect.... Cases like this would deserve one thorough appeal and then a swift execution in the electric chair, gas chamber or hanging. No more easy lethal injection either!
Sure, swift and terrible punishment for the few cases of unmistakable guilt. Everyone else gets life without parole.
These days, they are released because of DNA evidence, which shows they did NOT commit the crime - not technicalities.
I feel that if ONE innocent person is killed this way, we should not have the death penalty. What if it was someone in your family? That "one person" means a lot to someone.
It happens.
What kind of reimbursement do that person get other then to keep his life?
If the authority,s finds out after the fact, that a man they killed was innocent, what kind of reimbursement do the family get?
I am just curious. I can say this. That if let say my child was on death row for a crime he did not commit and he sat there for several years and then they killed him. Later they realize he was not the right person. That he was totally innocent, I would sue?
Does this ever happen???
It all depends on the situation... possibly in the millions... for instance, if a a person framed their child (who was a willing participant) to be convicted and sentenced to death so that they could get money out of the system and then get new evidence to clear the person after death... then that person would be a party to conspiracy to commit murder and get zero dollars...
See this is completely unacceptable to me. Our founding fathers recognized the fact that it is better to to let 10 guilty men go free than to let one innocent man be convicted (I dont know who exactly said that but that is the premise part of our constitution is based on). I agree throw the book at the guilty but that shouldn't include the death penalty (IMO).
Besides that, the death penalty is no more likely to deter crime than life in prison. At least with life in prison there is hope for that innocent man. Death is final.
Here is a really good article (especially if one is good with mathmatical formulas! LOL) on that old 10-1 saying, plus a ponderable except:
The story is told of a Chinese law professor, who was listening to a British lawyer explain that Britons were so enlightened, they believed it was better that ninety-nine guilty men go free than that one innocent man be executed. The Chinese professor thought for a second and asked, "Better for whom?"
Anyway, regardless of how one feels about this axiom in principle, it is not part of the Constitution nor the writings of the Founding Fathers. The document guaranteed a fair trial by ones peers, due process of law, and no cruel and unusual punishment.
Personally, the deterrent factor (or lack of it) has little to do with why I support capital punishment. There are some crimes so brutal, horrible, and sadistic that those who commit them deserve to die for no other reason.
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