It's 21 September 2011. It's the International Day of Peace and a man who is quite possibly innocent, is sentenced to die tonight.
For those of us who are not comfortable with the death penalty at the best of times, these are the worst of times. This is precisely what we fear. The thought that a man's accusers could in later years, recant their testimony and that make no difference to his fate is mind boggling and yet this is the case. Our worst fears could potentially be realized tonight as, in the full glare of the spotlight, Georgia proceeds to do what it claims the right to do.
Whatever the ultimate outcome here, whatever the final decision, the death penalty is hopefully going to get the good hard look it deserves. Are there terrible crimes being committed? Absolutely. Do those crimes need to be responded to with strong and swift action and punishment? Absolutely, but given the propensity of human beings to lie to save themselves (this includes witnesses to crimes and the friends, siblings and parents of accused persons (remember the Anthony family of the infamous Casey Anthony trial), punishment that is less permanent than death needs to be available.
Someone pointed out not too long ago that Casey Anthony, though there was quite a bit of evidence, managed to walk free. Troy Davis, even in the face of evidence of innocence has not, and may not live to see tomorrow. This is an odd system but this is the system we've got. Wouldn't it be better to err on the side of caution than to be oh so very wrong?
For those of us who are not comfortable with the death penalty at the best of times, these are the worst of times. This is precisely what we fear. The thought that a man's accusers could in later years, recant their testimony and that make no difference to his fate is mind boggling and yet this is the case. Our worst fears could potentially be realized tonight as, in the full glare of the spotlight, Georgia proceeds to do what it claims the right to do.
Whatever the ultimate outcome here, whatever the final decision, the death penalty is hopefully going to get the good hard look it deserves. Are there terrible crimes being committed? Absolutely. Do those crimes need to be responded to with strong and swift action and punishment? Absolutely, but given the propensity of human beings to lie to save themselves (this includes witnesses to crimes and the friends, siblings and parents of accused persons (remember the Anthony family of the infamous Casey Anthony trial), punishment that is less permanent than death needs to be available.
Someone pointed out not too long ago that Casey Anthony, though there was quite a bit of evidence, managed to walk free. Troy Davis, even in the face of evidence of innocence has not, and may not live to see tomorrow. This is an odd system but this is the system we've got. Wouldn't it be better to err on the side of caution than to be oh so very wrong?
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