Unheeded Innocence
Published by Hanno Kaiser July 30th, 2006 in Law and SocietyHere’s a very personal post by David Schraub, titled Unheeded Innocence, that’s worth quoting in full.
I’ll lay it straight for you. One of my absolute, deepest fears, is of being charged and/or convicted of a crime I did not commit. I fear that despite knowing my innocence, I won’t be able to convince a prosecutor or a jury of that fact. I fear that I’ll be villified by everyone I ever loved. I fear I’ll spend my entire life behind bars based off a mistake. It terrifies me. It’s articles like this that explain why. If for no other reason than to prevent horrors like this from happening, we must be ever-vigilent in making sure that our criminal justice system does everything possible to prevent an innocent man from being convicted. That commitment may not be politically popular, but it represents the baseline of how a just society conducts itself.
In that context, the death penalty is a particular problem. If you are looking for some basic statistics, check out the ACLU’s website on capital punishment. Here are the chilling highlights:
- Almost all people on death row could not afford to hire an attorney. The quality of legal representation is a better predictor of whether or not someone will be sentenced to death than the facts of the crime.
- Race often plays a role in determining a capital sentence. Over 80% of capital cases involve white victims, even though nationally, only 50% of murder victims are white.
- Where a death sentence is sought often determines whether a defendant is sentenced to death more than the circumstances of the crime.
With over 60 executions in 2005 alone, the US is keeping some very questionable company. Here’s the international hall of shame:
1. China (At least 1,770 Executions)
2. Iran (At least 94)
3. Saudi Arabia (At least 86)
4. United States (60)
5. Pakistan (31)
6. Yemen (24)
7. Vietnam (21)
8. Jordan (11)
9. Mongolia (8)
10. Singapore (6)
The death penalty is legalized barbarism and has no place in a decent society. How about a worthwhile constitutional amendment for a change? One that simply states: “Capital punishment is abolished,” as in Article 102 of the German Constitution.
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It’s worth noting that the “hall of shame” is rigged against countries with larger populations, such as the U.S. and China. If you adjust the numbers for population (using the latest CIA World Factbook data) China drops to 6th and the U.S. to 10th. What’s important to note here is that, with the information provided, there’s no way of knowing how many countries with smaller populations would jump to the top of the list, surpassing the U.S. and even China.
I’m not arguing for capital punishment, just noting that the DPIC’s argument is considerably weakened by using rigged statistics. It gives the appearance of a rhetorical argument rather than a well-reasoned one.