A new study published online…by the National Academy of Sciences takes a shot at determining the rate at which the U.S. mistakenly sentences innocent prisoners to death. The findings are unsettling. The study’s authors conclude that based on the statistical data, it can safely be estimated that 4.1 percent, or one-in-25 criminal defendants, sentenced to death in the U.S. are innocent. In fact, that’s probably low-balling the actual number of erroneous death penalty sentences. “We conclude that this is a conservative estimate of the proportion of false conviction among death sentences in the United States,” the study’s abstract reads.
That the system currently in place for carrying out capital punishment isn’t perfect should hardly come as a surprise. That one of 25 prisoners executed are very likely innocent certainly should at the very least be a matter of national concern and debate. That it’s not is as disturbing as it is indicative of our tolerance for the occasional state-sanctioned murder of an innocent person.
Hey, if they weren’t guilty, why are they in prison, right?
Think about it for a moment: One out of 25 executed prisoners are innocent, and, as the study admits, that number may be on the low side. You’d think a society which values freedom and the rule of law would balk at the idea of executing the innocent…but it barely raises an eyebrow. Most Americans think that capital punishment works just fine- i.e.- if they’re weren’t guilty, they wouldn’t on death row. Except that far too many are convicted because of official misconduct, poor legal representation, or all manner of other immoral, unethical, and even illegal reasons. Prosecutors, many with political aspirations, are concerned with appearing to be “tough on crime.” In some cases, they withhold evidence that might convince a jury of a defendant’s innocence…or at least be enough to create reasonable doubt. Public defenders are too often overwhelmed with onerous case loads and unable to provide full and vigorous representation to a defendant they believe is guilty anyway and will be executed regardless of their efforts.
Then there’s the question of what society is willing to accept. The goal is to deter violent crime, of course, which is a good thing. The question of whether the death penalty achieves that is a matter of some considerable debate. If you believe the death penalty to be an effective deterrent to violent crime, you must be willing to accept a certain margin of error. Capital punishment isn’t a perfect system, which means that sometimes an innocent person will be executed. What is an acceptable number of innocent people put to death by the State? If you accept that the death penalty works, you must also accept that the system isn’t perfect, which means you must also acknowledge and understand that innocent people are occasionally executed. If you’re OK with that idea, you might just be a monster.
Is one in 25 acceptable? If you value life, and yet are willing to destroy it in order to deter violent crime, how do you reconcile the occasional execution of an innocent person? What’s an acceptable price to pay? When does the execution of the innocent become a problem?
For my part, the execution of ANY innocent person is far too steep a price to pay. What happens when that innocent person is someone you know and love…or even worse, you? If we cannot guarantee we’re not executing the innocent, we have no business putting people to death in the name of justice.
Unless you like the idea of being a monster.
