For the first 30-some years of my life I supported the death penalty in what I saw as appropriate cases.
My reasoning relied on the fact that some convicted killers kill again, even if imprisoned for life, taking as new victims fellow inmates jailed for property crimes, correctional officers, and citizens encountered after an escape. I argued that once they were proven killers, the State should prioritize the prevention of further taking of life.
The rub is in the world "proven".
My beliefs changed when I started paying more attention to the number of death row inmates cleared of their charges by repentant false witnesses, law school projects, DNA tests, etc., as well as the racial and class biases which have become increasingly evident.
I believe one of the noblest principles of our judicial system is the implicit tenet that it is better for some of the guilty to escape justice than for an innocent to be falsely imprisoned or executed.
The judicial system in general, and the capital punishment apparatus in particular, are too flawed to justify executions. When I could sincerely argue that executions of the innocent were extremely rare, I could continue to maintain that capital punishment is justified, though I was uncomfortable with it: I now believe that argument was naive.
The ever-increasing number of cleared death row inmates over the past few decades changed my mind.
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