Sep 21st, 2009
Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 1:18pm	Capital Punishment

Executing the Innocent

On Friday, the Houston Chronicle ran an op-ed by John Holdridge and Chris Hill of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project. John and Chris wrote how the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was almost certainly innocent, has "shocked the conscience of many Americans." But those of us who oppose the death penalty know that the risk of executing an innocent person is all too real: since 1973, 135 people have been exonerated from death row. Those exonerees lived to see freedom, but for some, exoneration came too late. Willingham's case should not be viewed as an anomaly. John and Chris write:

[The] publicity should not mislead Americans into thinking Willingham has been the only innocent victim of our error-prone system of capital punishment. There have almost certainly been at least nine others, and possibly many more given the flaws in our criminal justice system revealed by the recent explosion in DNA exoneration. These include Carlos DeLuna, Ruben Cantu, Gary Graham, Larry Griffin and, perhaps, Sedley Alley — names no doubt unfamiliar to most Americans.

The execution of an innocent person is tantamount to state-sanctioned murder. The only way to guarantee that this doesn't happen again is to abolish capital punishment.

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1. Maggie Says:
   Sep 21st, 2009 at 4:22pm

   I am trying to understand this. If a person is tried by a jury of their piers and found guilty do they not deserve the punishment given out. I know that people lie etc but if the trial was done correctly I don't believe this is state sanctioned murder. If the death penalty is abolished then these people would be kept alive in prison. Could be a good thing but then if someone decides they are rehabilitated and they are released. That sends a message that it does not matter what you do just show you are not going to do it again. I don't mind abolishing the death penalty if I could be certain they would remain in jail.

2. Mawatha Silva Says:
   Sep 21st, 2009 at 5:46pm

   Horrific pictures of torture, rape and murder of female combatants who surrendered to brutal Sri Lankan Army
   http://www.warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&v iew=article&id=226:sri-lankan-army-war-crime-evidence-photo-srilan kan-army-sexually-abusing-tamil-female-combatants-during-bloody-blood- bath-on-vanni-beaches&catid=40:photo

   SriLankan Army Sexually Abusing Tamil Female Combatants during bloody blood bath on vanni beaches on mid may 2009. These photos have been shot by Sri Lankan Army soldiers by Mobile Cameras ( K310i , W2001 and 5300 ) and released in a local sri lankan website as part of Sri Lankan Army Victory Campaign. These collection of photographs & Videos covers different incidents and different victims. The common thread among them is the sexual violence that had been practiced as a war strategy by Sri Lankan Government. It is clear evidence that sexual violence was a tool in the genocidal war and constitutes a war crime.

3. roald Says:
   Sep 22nd, 2009 at 12:53pm

   Maggie, thanks for the question. All elements of our judicial process make mistakes - from police to arresting the wrong person to judges misunderstanding the law and everything in between. The process is generally successful because mistakes are usually detected and corrected. When a person is executed, a mistake cannot be corrected. This is one reason for ending capital punishment.

   A person who would have been sentenced to death would be sentenced to life w/o parole in the absence of capital punishment. Their would be no later decision they had been rehabilitated.

   Ponder for a moment how wonderful it would be for a person proven innocent to be set free, an option not available to a dead person.

4. Maggie Says:
   Sep 22nd, 2009 at 5:29pm

   Well they might as well be thrown into the mix, then everyone will be profiled. Thanks for answering my question.

5. Maggie Says:
   Sep 22nd, 2009 at 5:30pm

   Sorry put message in wrong spot. But that does answer my question.

6. John Says:
   Sep 23rd, 2009 at 10:48pm

   Maggie:
   For the one person who was innocent and found themselves strapped in an electric chair would tell you that these courts, prosecutors, juries and lawyers make huge mistakes, HUGE. That life is worth more than every guilty persons death which should be left to the hand of the creator and no one else. Why should the state have the right to execute anyone? I know the arguments but one argument you cannot refute is that one mistake, that innocent person who had no choice but to die an early senseless death.

7. dickie Says:
   Sep 25th, 2009 at 12:19pm

   i hate your group and all it stands for you shouldn't be allowed have american in your groups name

8. Steve Says:
   Sep 25th, 2009 at 2:12pm

   If there is without a doubt that the convict committed the crime, then I see no problem with the death penalty. The nazi leaders of old would be a good example of this, and also Polly Klass's killer. But if there is any reasonable doubt-not a technicality mind you- but reasonable doubt. Then prison would be appropriate in case the person is innocent.

9. roald Says:
   Sep 29th, 2009 at 12:58pm

   Steve, for a criminal conviction, guilt must be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" (assuming you believe all the cop and lawyer show writers). If a judge or jury has a reasonable doubt, the accused goes free.

   Unfortunately, many people found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt are later proven to be innocent. Further, we have to ask who gets to decide whether that reasonable doubt exists. There are people out there who believe the Nazis did not kill any Jews, Catholics, Gypsies, Communists, or homosexuals.

10. Chuck Drinnan Says:
    Oct 1st, 2009 at 1:13am

    First in my mind no one has the right to kill another whether it is an innocent child or a convicted murderer. To take a life is wrong and completely unnecessary.
    If we look objectively at our criminal system, we know that eye witnesses are often wrong, that a person's sex or stature has more influence on whether they are executed or not,that many convicted people are not competent enough to defend themselves or to be held responsible for what they did, and that sometimes our own prejudices make a fair trial impossible.
    Please don't take this the wrong way. We probably do better than most nations with our justice system. But we do make mistakes as has been clearly shown in the last decade and putting anyone to death if there is the least bit of doubt is unconscionable.

11. MOG Says:
    Oct 1st, 2009 at 8:20pm

    First we need a revised Capital Punishment. For theft you lose a body part, Sexual crime your body parts will be altered so you can't perform, no second chance. We need a tip of fascicle capital punishment to be administered after giving a short period of to prove innocents after conviction. Lets also develop secured manufacturing felicities so inmates can pay there on way. this is happening in some places but very little.

12. roald Says:
    Oct 6th, 2009 at 4:01pm

    MOG...Your suggestion sounds a lot like Sharia law. Are you a closet Wahabist?

    Of course, we assume that justice is always accurate, despite the many lessons we learn.