Thoughtful reflections on the death penalty

Thoughtful reflections on the death penalty

Writing for The Nation, Bruce Shapiro has this thoughtful examination of the current state of the death penalty. Entitled "Questioning Capital Punishment," the piece explores various aspect of current capital debates. I was especially drawn to this passage:

For the last decade, the issue that has driven the death penalty debate — galvanizing the attention of courts and press alike — has been innocence: a capital representation system so criminally negligent that 123 wrongfully convicted death-row inmates have been released, and public confidence in death sentences eroded.

Yet innocence cases, in their own way, have evaded a fundamental question: What about the grievously guilty? What about what one pro-death-penalty legal scholar calls "the worst of the worst"? Are executions of the truly guilty consistent with America's evolving constitutional standards, with national ideals and worldwide human rights norms?

December 24, 2006 at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)