Death penalty creates more problems than it's wort

[Anja Nieser]

Death penalty creates more problems than it's worth


I was appalled by the callous statements I read online in response to the
appeal for a moratorium on the death penalty. Poor people and people of
color, mostly men, are sentenced to death significantly more often than
middle class whites who commit similar crimes. Hundreds of innocent people
have been killed or placed on death row erroneously.

Appeals courts only address procedural errors, not evidence of innocence.
Professionals who work with death row inmates suffer unbelievable stress
and depression.

The death penalty is frequently used as a political weapon by political
candidates who want to appear "tough on crime" without funding law
enforcement adequately or supporting social structures that reduce crime.

We need a system of justice that works. The death penalty creates numerous
problems but solves only one: retribution.

Emily Plec, Dallas

(source: Letter to the Editor, The (Ore.) Statesman Journal)