In my continuing coverage of the death penalty’s “whoops (or oops) factor,” here’s a link to the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks such things as the number of humans sentenced to death in the US who are subsequently exonerated. As you can see, at least 190 cases since the early 70s. Interesting stuff.
Just yesterday, a buddy of mine, who supports the death penalty in cases of the most heinous 1st degree murder, said something along the lines of, “well, we (the US) don’t make mistakes convicting innocent people that often, it rarely happens, and for the vast majority who are convicted and sentenced to die, they deserve it and we need to be protected.”
I immediately knew my friend had nailed the whoops factor issue; that being, that the public safety benefits of the death penalty (i.e., the State killing really bad dudes) outweighs occasional mistakes. Which then prompted some key questions that I just had to ask, starting with, “what is an acceptable threshold of innocent folks sentenced to death?” And continuing with, “Is the 190 plus so few that the benefits of the death penalty to society outweigh the whoops variable?”
Ah, the moral discomfort such questions prompt, at least for a moment, for some who don’t think about this stuff, especially if they immediately roll into the whole “liberal, soft on crime, the system is too lenient” mindset. Oh, the just desserts of it all.
Cause here’s how I see it. I am fine with folks supporting the death penalty as long as they acknowledge the reality of the whoops factor. In other words, don’t hand me some ignorant retributive ‘kill the bastards sooner rather than later’ stuff, without also at least recognizing that, damnit, sometimes we fuck up. Furthermore and forthwith (yeah, getting needlessly wordy), acknowledge your threshold for what is an acceptable error rate. That’s right, all you good moral folk who believe in that eye for an eye thing. Look at yourselves in the mirror and ask, am I ok with the fuck up rate?
Let me provide some guidance. As you stare in the mirror, looking at yourself, ask yourself, “Self, are the 190+ exonerations (not to mention, any additional unfortunate few who happen to be innocent but, oops, the State kills ‘em before they are exonerated) so infinitesimal that the ultimate benefits of the death penalty outweigh the occasional errors?” Damn, I know, rather than take on this question, it is so much easier to just say ‘kill the bastards,’ and if, once in awhile, we make a mistake, so be it, especially if we don’t personally know the bastards (like, they be a spouse or a sibling or a parent). Hey, life ain’t fair, right?
In closing, let me just say this about all that. Every time I see a new case of a human convicted of a heinous crime, who usually has spent years in prison, subsequently exonerated and released after their life has been ruined, I ask myself, “Am I ok with the whoops factor?” Might I suggest you do the same? Of course, as always, I could be wrong.
icouldbewrong.blog 
I’ve gone back and forth on the death penalty. What do you do with someone like Timothy McVeigh? Clearly the bomber. Clearly would rather die. Or these teenagers/young adults who shoot up a school and take multiple lives — should such a shooter ever be released? In a perfect world, could we narrow the criteria to only the clearly guilty? It doesn’t seem so. Once we crack the door open to allow the death penalty, there will be a significant error rate imposed on the poor, minorities and those without access to a good defense. Many of the exonerated at one-time confessed — coerced or not. Maybe we make it voluntary for the convicted. If a murderer would rather die, we put them out of their misery…
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