Death penalty division

“Death penalty division” is written by Daniel Valentine for the Delmarva (Maryland) news website (http://www.dailytimesonline.com/news/stories/20030209/localnews/950989.html) and was posted on Sunday, February 9, 2003. This article talks about the fact that the death penalty is being reconsidered and examined. The article focuses on the death penalty is Maryland, but also talks about relating studies in other parts of the country. The first point that is talked about against the article is innocence. There is a case concerning a man that was sentenced to death after he was convicted of killing and raping a nine-year-old girl. After he spent nine years in jail, seven of those years were spent on death row, the man was pardoned. A DNA test on semen at the scene proved that he could not have committed the crime. For this wrongful imprisonment the state awarded him with $300,000. Since then, DNA tests have revealed chance of possible innocence, including some people that have already been executed. The article talks about states that have more liberal death penalties. This is very important as it related it to the sniper case where Jon Lee Muhammed will be charged in Virginia because they apply the death penalty more liberally. Another point that the article addresses is race. It seems much more common for a black person that is convicted of killing a white person to be sentenced to death, than race-on-race murders. Most of the article talks about negative aspects of the death penalty, and why many places are reconsidering their policies.

I think that the death penalty is appropriate in some cases, but this article brings up good points. It is an awful thing to think that innocent people are and could be executed. This shows that extensive testing and trials should take place before anyone gets put to death. Even though people suggest that there is no reason to stop the death penalty because of a few flaws, an innocent person being put to death is a huge problem. Race seems to be playing a factor in the death penalty. It is hard to ever say it definitely is or isn’t because it is proven that more blacks commit crimes. It is unfair if it is true that more blacks that murdered whites are sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks though. Although I agree with the death penalty at certain times, it seem that there are a lot of problems and there should be a lot of studies conducted before anyone else gets sentenced to the death penalty.

The death penalty is such a serious sentencing that it seems difficult to ever be sure if someone is really guilty. Hw can we ever be sure if someone is really guilty? Even though DNA tests are extremely accurate, it could be argued [rest of document cut off here].