Showing posts with label innocent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label innocent. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Death penalty for the innocent?

Catholic Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently wrote that the matter of executing an 'actually' innocent party is "unresolved." He says:

"This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is 'actually' innocent"

He adds,

"Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved."

Imposing the death penalty in cases where a party is a guilty of a serious crime is one thing. It is quite another to execute an 'actually' innocent person. And for a Catholic Supreme Court Justice to say the matter has been left "unresolved" - is that not chilling?

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