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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Death penalty in the news

In case you have not been paying attention, the death penalty has been in the news lately.

A lot.

Largely because the state of Georgia may have killed an innocent man based on horribly unreliable eyewitness testimony.

I am pleased the debate is being heard once again.


Check it out:

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Truthout

David Swanson, War Is a Crime

E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post Writers Group

_______________________

We know the facts of the death penalty. I've demonstrated them clearly in my state.

Now it is up to people in power to do something about it.
This is a failed policy based on flawed logic and not at all informed by scientific evidence.

It does not reduce crime.
It does not bring closure to victims' families.
It does not provide justice for society.
It is a slow and expensive process that costs more than life imprisonment.
It is racially biased.
And it is prone to serious error.

Yet we cling to it out of simple tradition. The time has come for a new tradition. And I welcome it.


1 comment:

  1. I think the Troy Davis execution has shed another dark light on the United States for using the death penalty. SInce eye witness testimony is so unreliable, and one of his witness admits they told the police what they wanted to hear.

    The dealth penalty should be abolished for good. It is cheaper for the criminal justice system, and not too mention inhumane. However, if this cannot fully happen then the a conviction for dealth penalty cases should not rely on eye witness testimony.

    ReplyDelete