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many people support capital punishment as a just remedy for serious crime.

but what if the accused and convicted are innocent?

well, we trust our system, our police and prosecutors and judges and juries; with all the protections accorded the accused in capital cases, surely no innocents could be convicted in america.

wrong.

the Illinois "Innocence Project", which you may google, has established through DNA eviden ce that dozens on death row were in fact innocent and must go free.

and of those, a startling number had actually confessed to the crime!

http://www.innocenceproject.org/causes/falseconfessions.php

but of course they are often tired beaten confused depressed hopeless people who have basically given up on life; easy pickings for the state. they confess, the DA gets a conviction, the state government can show it is tough on crime, everybody is happy.

except HE'S INNOCENT!!!

Hmm, this is a very controversial subject.

On the one hand, everything you said is true. What if the convicted is innocent? That's horrible and unforgivable.

But look at it the other way, too. It's so expensive keeping a criminal alive. Free food, free health insurance, you're guaranteed a place to sleep at night. There are some people who commit crimes simply to get into prison, because they can barely live without its protection.

And even if capital punishment was abolished, what of the people still convicted yet innocent? They usually have a life sentence in prison. They cannot live in the outside world anymore, they must forever stay within the same walls, until they died. I'm not saying that death is a better option, but choosing between death and life in prison is a pretty crappy choice.

What really should be done is beef up the judicial system. Lawyers should be forced to show ALL evidence, not spin the truth so their client wins and they recieve more money. (This also means the government might have to start paying lawyers, so they don't have an incentive to lie). More checks and balances should be in place, because people seem able to get around the current ones. One major problem is bribery. Wave some cash in someone's face and the whole thing can be fixed. I'm not sure how that could ber fixed though...

Poverty is another issue brought up here. If people's lives are so horrible they turn to prison as a way out, something must be done. One thing could be to have more shelters, food supplies, etc. given out, as well as free health insurance. Basically all the benefits of prison that make people turn to it, minus the punishment.

I believe that we need 2 things.

1. We need to not sentence innocent people. "Better that 100 guilty men go free than 1 innocent man be arrested" as one of the founding fathers of america said (forgot who, forgive me) We seem to have forgotten that. This includes changes made to the judicial system. the american judicial system has a LOT of things going for it, but it still needs work.

2. Only assign capital punishment to cases where you can prove, without a doubt, 100%, that the person did it. And whatever it is that they did, it had better be big. If he's a serial killer, then off with his head (or whatever the method of choice is these days) but if we don't KNOW he's been killing people with a blunt case of used deoderant, then lets lock him up first.

3. Jail is not supposed to be a punishment for those who commit crimes. It is intended as a Rehabilitation facility to turn criminals into productive members of society. That's not how it works, but that's how it's SUPPOSED to work. Peoples need for Vengence has turned Jail into punishment. time-out for the big boys. "If he robbed me, I don't want him getting taught how to be good! I want him to PAY" Is the mentality.

Solve these 3 problems, and not only will this capital punishment problem dissapear, but crime will decrease as well. There can be no crime without criminals.

Of course, this is all theory. None of the above are easy fixes, and the amount of money it would take... well... I don't dream of myself ever having a fraction of that much money in my wildest of indulgent dreams. And let me tell you, I have some pretty indulgent disires.

these people did not have DNA evidence used in their behalf in the first place because they were poor, or oignorant, or scared.

that's why many of them (innocent!) confessed!

but the "law and order" society has their convictions, the system has done its job, people feel safe, everybody is happy...except for the innocents on death row.

Your comment gave me an interesting (and perhaps crazy) idea. What if, for crimes where the punishment is life in prison or execution, the criminal were given the choice? It's such a heated debate, and every single person has their own view, that choosing one or the other for all criminals seems impossible.

True, but what alternative can there be for these people besides death or life in prison? After murdering someone, you really can't be trusted to fit into a normal society again. I suppose some would argue that you can though.

I do feel giving the prisoner the choice (as crappy a choice as it is) would help a lot of the controversy to die down. After all, the prisoner chose his/her fate, so it's a lot harder to say it's unfair.

You've got a point. I suppose that would be up to the jury to decide. If the jury feels the defendent deserves an even harsher punishment than prison with chance of parole, then the defendent could decide life in prison or execution.

Yay, you're alive! Yes, Novos needs to wake up, but how?