[Vision2020] DNA exoneration reaches 200; questions remain for justice system

[Sue Hovey]

One of the reasons, I believe, that those who support the death penalty do so with the caveat that errors will be made, but those errors are what a civilized society pays to be safe; is that those we put to death are most often poor, minority, unemployed, undereducated, and mentally deficient.  It's simple to count those errors as a societal cost for our protection when they don't happen to us and the ones we love.  I used to feel that way, too, but I have come to believe there is something wrong with a society and the people within it, who feel "the execution of a few innocents," is a price we can afford. 

Sue

From: Bruce and Jean Livingston 

----- Original Message ----- 
  To: lfalen ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 2:07 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] DNA exoneration reaches 200;questions remain for justice system


  Roger, there is no question that your arguments have some appeal, in the sense that if we are to have the death penalty, there are some crimes that are so heinous that they practically "cry out for it."  

  My problem with your "tinkering with the procedures" approach, in an effort to "fine tune" the system so that our administration of justice is fairer, is that efforts to eliminate systemic error that allows for the conviction of the innocent will only reduce the error rate, but not eliminate it.   It seems to me that the costs of administering the death penalty exceed the "benefit" of it, and that you also must accept as a "cost of doing business" the inevitable execution of a few innocents.  

  I changed my views about the death penalty, which I once favored, after I was appointed to represent Roy Roberts, a man that I came to believe was innocent.  Sadly, I was unable to spare his life or win his release.  Here is his clemency petition:
  http://ccadp.org/clemencyroy.htm
  Here is an article about Roy on the Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions:
  http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/Executions/Roberts_Missouri.htm

  Having gone through the wringer of failing to save an innocent man's life, I no longer accept an approach to the death penalty that amounts to "collateral damage in the form of the execution of a few innocents is acceptable."   In my opinion, having the death penalty is not worth that.

  Bruce



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: "lfalen" <lfalen at turbonet.com>
  To: "Ted Moffett" <starbliss at gmail.com>; "Bruce and Jean Livingston" <jeanlivingston at turbonet.com>
  Cc: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
  Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 12:30 PM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] DNA exoneration reaches 200;questions remain for justice system


  >I am not sure that the death penalty should be totally abolished. Some people like Duncan surely deserve it. Maybe it should be restricted to just a few things. In any case due to number of people that are convicted who are innocent, there needs to be better safe guards put in place. In regard to the Attorney General's office, It does look like they blew it on the Idaho Falls Cace. Although it does'nt  rise to the same level of seriousness, they have also been hit and miss on enforcing the Open Meeting Law. In some cases they have done what they should. in others they have not. I will get into this more at a later date.
  > Roger
  > -----Original message-----
  > From: "Ted Moffett" starbliss at gmail.com
  > Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:11:16 -0700
  > To: "Bruce and Jean Livingston" jeanlivingston at turbonet.com
  > Subject: [Vision2020] DNA exoneration reaches 200;questions remain for justice system
  > 
  >> Bruce et. al.
  >> 
  >> http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--dnaexonerations-20423apr23,0,1071686.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
  >> 
  >> I guess this is some kind of milestone...But not all these cases are death
  >> penalty cases.  But the question is obvious:  if this many are exonerated by
  >> DNA, how many on death row or imprisoned for other crimes are innocent who
  >> do not have DNA available to prove or disprove their innocence?
  >> 
  >> Likely a much larger number!
  >> 
  >> The price we must pay for a justice system, or a justice system in need of
  >> radical improvement?
  >> 
  >> I won't even start...
  >> 
  >> Ted Moffett
  >> 
  >> 
  >> On 4/23/07, Bruce and Jean Livingston <jeanlivingston at turbonet.com> wrote:
  >> >
  >> >  We confronted two high profile cases  in the last couple of weeks, first,
  >> > a declaration of innocence in the Duke Lacrosse case in NC, and second, the
  >> > apparent innocence of Rauland Grube in a murder case from southeastern
  >> > Idaho, on which I posted several days ago.
  >> >
  >> > Now appears this series of editorials from of all places, Texas.  The
  >> > Dallas Morning News editorial staff reversed its 100 year stance in favor of
  >> > the death penalty.  In so doing, it made many of the best arguments for
  >> > reconsidering our willingness to retain the death penalty.  The editorial
  >> > pieces are thoughtful and worthy of all citizens' review, especially in
  >> > states like Idaho that continue to have the death penalty.
  >> >
  >> >  I thought you might be interested in these recent Dallas Morning News
  >> > editorials.  The Morning News is historically one of the most conservative
  >> > major-city newspapers in the country, although it moderated somewhat when
  >> > the "liberal" competition folded.
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> > http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-toy_01edi.ART.State.Edition1.43b925d.html
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> > http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-deathmonday2_16edi.ART.State.Edition1.42d305b.html
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> > http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-deathmonday1_16edi.ART.State.Edition1.42d1ffd.html
  >> >
  >> > The explanation about the Dallas Morning News' editorial slant is from my
  >> > sister-in-law, who resides there, reads the paper regularly, and forwarded
  >> > me the above links.
  >> >
  >> > Bruce Livingston
  >> >
  >> >
  >> >
  >> > =======================================================
  >> >  List services made available by First Step Internet,
  >> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
  >> >               http://www.fsr.net
  >> >          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
  >> > =======================================================
  >> >
  >> 
  >> 
  > 


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