Justice for all except an insignificant minimum?
Some death penalty supporters acknowledge that innocents may have been and may yet be executed, but they argue that serving the greater good is worth risking that unfortunate outcome. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argues that the Byzantine appeals process effectively sifts innocent convicts from the great mass of guilty, and killing the small number who fall through is a risk he’s willing to live with. According to polls, most Texans are, too. But this editorial board is not.
This has always been my view. So what is an acceptable ratio of innocent people to kill so that we can still execute those who commit horrible crimes? One to ten? 1to 20? 1 to 50?
And what makes people willing to accept any ratio in the first place? Besides prosecutors satisfying the public’s demand to be tough on crime and get the guilty person? Besides the all too frequent attitude among law enforcement officers that if they didn’t do it this time, they did it before or they will do it again?
Because the average person tends to believe that if the police arrest you, you’re guilty. They wouldn’t arrest you if hadn’t done something wrong, would they? So when something like Tulia happens, people are quick to point out that the many of the victims made plea bargains–why would they if they weren’t guilty? Maybe the three men accused in the Duke rape case could answer that question. If they hadn’t been able to afford private defense attorneys, who knows what they might have pled?
Justice Scalia calls these innocents “an insignificant minimum.”
Unless you’re one of the “minimum.” And Scalia, like most people, assume that they will never be one of the minimum.
Technorati Tags: Dallas Morning News, Capital Punishment, Texas, Ernest Ray Willis, Carlos De Luna, Tulia, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia
Filed under: Antonin Scalia, Carlos De Luna, Dallas Morning News, Sandra Day O'Connor, Texas Ernest Ray Willis, capital punishment
Justice for all except an insignificant minimum?…
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The execution of one innocent person is unacceptable! Those who say otherwise do not value human life. Maybe those who advocate this would feel different if an innocent family member “was put down” due to an overzealous prosecutor.