Fast forward now, to 1977. Kerry Max Cook was sentenced to death by a "jury of his peers," and would spend the next 22 years in a Texas prison before he was released for a crime he didn't commit. Truly, Mr. Cook had no liberty and that was replaced with death. In 1997 he was eventually released because DNA evidence proved he was, in fact, not the killer.
The Death Penalty is in place to deter crime, to deter murder. Then how come murder rates aren't decreasing? The system is NOT in place as a vehicle for revenge. Revenge is the last thing we should be doing. Some would argue that the death penalty is about justice. What is the justice is killing an innocent person? There is a flaw in the reasoning. Justice is giving somebody a fair trial and letting them rot in prison for their lives.
There is a fine line between justice and revenge.
Don't get me wrong. I do believe there are heinous enough crimes that would deserve death, in the "perfect world." But, then again, in a perfect world there wouldn't be murder.
Morally, what gives us the right to say someone is deserving of death? I think there is only one person that could do that, and He certainly wouldn't put anyone to death. We like to call ourselves Christians (a whole different debate), but are we doing the Christian thing? I hate to pull the religion card, but in this instance I think it is necessary.
The real underlying problem is the judicial system. We have a system that for the lack of a better term, sucks ass. We have a system that can put someone away for life after 3 strikes, but at the same time can let Donte Stallworth off with less than a month in jail for driving drunk and killing a pedestrian. The same system can put a person away for 90 days for possession of a marijuana. It takes one slip-up in the system and a man walks free, but it also takes one slip-up to put a man behind bars for the rest of his life for no reason. Lets say that police don't read somebody their Miranda rights and this child molester walks free for the rest of his life. Now flip the coin, tampered evidence makes its way into the courtroom and puts Kerry Max Cook away for the prime of his life (19-41 years old). The system is flawed. Until it is fixed, quit sentencing people to death.
Another story is surfacing about Troy Davis, a death row inmate, who is trying to prove he is innocent after 7 witnesses recanted their testimonies, and the primary witness is now suspected to be the real killer. Just another example of how the system has too many inconsistencies and loopholes to convict someone, without the shadow of a doubt, to death.
In wrapping, I think that alone, the judicial system, morality, wrongful convictions, and deterrence is enough to show the Death Penalty is just simply wrong. Now combine them and it becomes even more clear.
Another story is surfacing about Troy Davis, a death row inmate, who is trying to prove he is innocent after 7 witnesses recanted their testimonies, and the primary witness is now suspected to be the real killer. Just another example of how the system has too many inconsistencies and loopholes to convict someone, without the shadow of a doubt, to death.
In wrapping, I think that alone, the judicial system, morality, wrongful convictions, and deterrence is enough to show the Death Penalty is just simply wrong. Now combine them and it becomes even more clear.
Further reading/sources
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/us/18scotus.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss
http://www.innocenceproject.org/
http://www.chasingjustice.com/
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FaganTestimony.pdf
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