To Free the Truth

As long as there’s the possibility — no matter how remote — that an innocent person could be killed, nobody should be for the death penalty –Kirk Bloodsworth, exonerated ‘93

One of the most serious concerns with capital punishment is the fact that it is very possible an innocent person can be executed for crimes they did not commit while the actual guilty party remains free. This isn’t just an unwarranted worry. To date, 131 people have been exonerated after spending years on death row. Wrongful convictions are a fact.

So, where does sentencing the wrong person fit into the whole idea of justice? It doesn’t or at least, it shouldn’t. What these cases tell us, though, is that this system has serious flaws. Innocent people are sentenced to die. In fact, considering the population of death row nationally is around 3350, those 131 people represent a 3.8% error rate. If you apply that same error rate to the 1156 people who have been executed, it’s quite possible that 45 or so people have been murdered by our government in the name of justice.

Just 1 person dying for another’s acts undermines justice. Just 1–that’s all it takes. A 3.8 % error on this system means that innocent people have and will die. Those 131 exonerees are both tragic and lucky. The years they spent in prison cells being treated as subhuman scum by guards, by society and even by some of their friends and family who doubted them… Their name was sullied, their families ripped apart, their lives shattered. Tragic really doesn’t even begin to cover it. But, they are also lucky because someone, somewhere listened to their story and decided to fight with them. All too often that isn’t the case, I know that from advocating in this case. It’s rare that anyone listens much less cares about the people who have been convicted. They are stereotyped and categorized. Claims of innocence deflect off stone hearts. All too often, people chalk it up to some sort of ploy, game or trap…so that just means an error rate of 3.8% is quite possibly on the low end.

Even using just 3.8%, the implications are huge. 3.8 may seem fairly small, almost insignificant, but let’s look at it a different way. Every now and then you hear a news story about a case of medical malpractice involving an amputation performed on the wrong limb or body part. The very idea is horrific. Immediately, people, after hearing about this one instance, begin questioning the medical profession and hospitals.  They want safeguards to prevent such a tragedy. They want the responsible party to pay… Right now, there are approximately 1.7 million people in the U.S. who have had an amputation. If you applied that 3.8% to the population of amputees, then 64,600 people would have dealt with ‘wrongful amputations.’ * 3.8% adds up…so, where’s the public outcry for those ‘wrongly executed?’ Why aren’t more people demanding safeguards in this system or proposing the only guaranteed alternative of life without parole? Or, working in the current system, why can’t we limit these cases following Maryland’s new law to only those involving DNA evidence, a videotape of the crime, or a voluntary, videotaped confession?

I can’t imagine the desperation, the urgency, the sorrow involved in being convicted and sentenced to die for a crime you did not commit.  No money, powerless… I can’t imagine how terribly alone and without hope that person must feel… No one should ever have to endure that. We have the capabilities to ensure this, so why don’t we?

For more facts on those exonerated, please see www.witnesstoinnocence.com

*This is not a factual number but only a projection of a 3.8% error rate.