One More Reason to Abolish the Death Penalty
Mar 13th, 2008 by nick
As reported in Slate Magazine, a Medical Examiner in Mississippi with questionable methods has put possibly dozens of innocent men in prison, some of them sentenced to death. Kennedy Brewer, facing execution, was recently freed after another man’s DNA was found to match samples found at the crime-scene.
It’s bad enough that Brewer and others had to waste years of their life in prison. But it would have been infinitely worse had they been executed. Killing someone is irrevocable. When there is any doubt, and no criminal justice system is without doubt, we should not inflict the irreversible punishment of death.
I agree, and it seems ironic to me that many of the people who are in favor of the death penalty call themselves “pro-life,” which is an oxymoron. I don’t understand how one can justify forcing women to have unwanted babies, but at the same time think it is appropriate to kill adult criminals, many of whom were probably unwanted and/or abused as children.