4 ms·

If someone is wrongly imprisoned for life, they have a chance of getting out. If someone is wrongly executed, there is no way to fix that.

by lawpoop 10y ago

bpodgursky 10y ago
While that's true, the vast majority of people who are released on new evidence BECAUSE of the many appeals you get before execution. If those people hadn't been on death row, they'd still be rotting in prison. If you give people the option of throwing someone in prison and forgetting about them, or forcing them to actually decide on their guilt, they will always choose the former. If I was wrongly convicted, I would much, much, much rather be on death row than in for life-without-parole.
- lawpoop 10y ago
  That's a critique of the current state of our legal system, not whether the death penalty is just in the case of a wrongly convicted innocent person.
  - bpodgursky 10y ago
    Let me know when you've created an ideal criminal legal justice system. Fix the problems with wrongful conviction, lack of appeals, etc etc, and we can come back and abolish capital punishment. But right now, it's naiive to advocate for abolishing capital punishment, because in the absence of other reforms, it simply makes the current system worse.
    - Jtsummers 10y ago
      I'm confused. How does abolishing capital punishment make a system that we know has executed innocent people worse? Halt capital punishment to prevent further, irreversible, errors. AND work on other reforms (better trial lawyers, more equitable appeals process, etc.). Then you can bring back capital punishment once we have a greater degree of confidence in the system.
    - lawpoop 10y ago
      I don't claim to be able to make an ideal criminal legal justice system. But I do think we can make improvements, this being one of them. Why do you think the rest of the first world has outlawed capital punishment?
- saiya-jin 10y ago
  not if you would be in any 3rd world country, or Singapore for that matter

If someone is wrongly imprisoned for life, they have a chance of getting out. If someone is wrongly executed, there is no way to fix that.

by lawpoop 10y ago

If someone is wrongly imprisoned for life, they have a chance of getting out. If someone is wrongly executed, there is no way to fix that.

bpodgursky 10y ago

While that's true, the vast majority of people who are released on new evidence BECAUSE of the many appeals you get before execution. If those people hadn't been on death row, they'd still be rotting in prison. If you give people the option of throwing someone in prison and forgetting about them, or forcing them to actually decide on their guilt, they will always choose the former. If I was wrongly convicted, I would much, much, much rather be on death row than in for life-without-parole.

lawpoop 10y ago
That's a critique of the current state of our legal system, not whether the death penalty is just in the case of a wrongly convicted innocent person.
- bpodgursky 10y ago
  Let me know when you've created an ideal criminal legal justice system. Fix the problems with wrongful conviction, lack of appeals, etc etc, and we can come back and abolish capital punishment. But right now, it's naiive to advocate for abolishing capital punishment, because in the absence of other reforms, it simply makes the current system worse.
  - Jtsummers 10y ago
    I'm confused. How does abolishing capital punishment make a system that we know has executed innocent people worse? Halt capital punishment to prevent further, irreversible, errors. AND work on other reforms (better trial lawyers, more equitable appeals process, etc.). Then you can bring back capital punishment once we have a greater degree of confidence in the system.
  - lawpoop 10y ago
    I don't claim to be able to make an ideal criminal legal justice system. But I do think we can make improvements, this being one of them. Why do you think the rest of the first world has outlawed capital punishment?
saiya-jin 10y ago
not if you would be in any 3rd world country, or Singapore for that matter