Quote:
Originally Posted by thaskalos
I hate posting a story such as this here, because it shows the exact reason why I haven't watched a news telecast for over 3 years now...and why I would gladly volunteer to serve as an executioner in some of the murder cases that we often see. But I am posting the story anyway...as a reminder for those of us who consider the death penalty to be a grave injustice in our society today.
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I take it as a given that no system is perfect, therefore, there will be errors where innocent people are found guilty, sentenced and executed. This brings up the question
What is the highest acceptable percentage of innocent persons executed?
The late Earle Stanley Gardner (author of the Perry Mason novels) claimed to have done research that convinced him that one execution in nine (11%) was of an innocent person. Amnesty International claims the rate in the U.S. is one in three (33%)
The wealthy are less likely to be executed than the poor. Could this be because they can afford better lawyers?
Whites are less likely to be executed than non-whites.
Then there's the Texas prosecutor who got a defendant convicted and sentenced to death. When the man was exonerated just hours before his scheduled execution the prosecutor made this statement: "Any lawyer can get a guilty man sentenced to death. It takes a great lawyer to get and innocent man executed."
