DEATH ROW--death penalty in America

[HairOfTheDog]

I read a story about a man that has been on death row for 30 years. He was cleared by a new witness.

I was very happy to see ^Anthony Ray Hinton finally released, rams.
Hinton's story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morni...unraveled/

There are more than 150 other death row inmates who have been released as a result of efforts by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and other legal groups like it.

So, how did they wrongly end up on Death Row?
-Bullshit "hair evidence" in the 80s and 90s testified to by FBI agents. Ref: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crim...story.html
-Corrupt police and prosecutors looking to close cases and secure "wins".
-Honest mistakes by police and prosecutors and eye witnesses.
-Incompetent defense counsel.
-False confessions by uneducated, poverty-stricken, easily-led suspects.

^ Those are effin' facts, not bleeding heart "liberal" bullshit contentions.

I think maybe MS meant that he's confident those convicted since 2000 and placed on death row are guilty, due to DNA advancements -- not that those executed since 2000 are somehow all certainly guilty. He's wrong either way. Many of those executed since 2000 were actually sentenced to death in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. And, still today, forensic evidence that can be subjected to DNA testing is only present in about 15% of cases.

Anyway, I no longer believe that the death penalty serves any purpose and I don't appreciate that it costs between 3 and 6 times as much money and double the time to try a death penalty case as compared to one with a max sentence of LWOP. That's true for me even when it's crystal clear that the defendant is guilty as hell, which is the majority of capital cases IMO.

But, if the victim's family wants to invest in the pursuit of a death sentence, I don't object SO LONG AS there is DNA evidence proving guilt definitively and/or there is a verified confession including details only the killer could know.

Abolish the Death Penalty in America or up the bar (retroactively) in terms of proof; either one would be a significant improvement. IMO.