There is a demonstrated error rate of 1 innocent person for every 7 persons executed (or more than 14%).
Would you get on a plane that operated under such a rate of failure that you knew that every 7th plane would kill everyone on board?
There is no purpose to capital punishment at all except retribution, ie revenge. It does not act as a deterrent. It does not provide closure for families or the society. It in no way serves to lessen crime rates or solve the original problem. In fact, it makes the situation worse by sending the message that violence and murder are a valid way to solve problems.
Most civilized societies have concluded that capital punishment is an antiquated and infantile approach to justice and have abandoned it as irrational behavior.
The idea that someone would be sentenced to die solely based on eyewitness testimony (especially when 7 of 9 of those witnesses have recanted) is nothing short of barbaric and insane.
It is also telling that the people who clamor the most for executing people are the same ones who claim to be so concerned with the sanctity of life when it comes to abortion issues. There is no lower form of duplicity and hypocrisy than those who would murder a murderer and consider it justice.
In a better world, the Davis case would provoke a call for sanity and a re-banning of the death penalty. But given the absolute barbarity and stupidity of around 25% of the American populace it's unlikely we will see any improvement for some time to come.
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