Illinois becomes 16th state to ban death penalty

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by miraja2

The major problem is that - even today - people are sometimes wrongfully convicted of these crimes. There have been a lot of strange cases where new evidence emerges ten or more years down the road that exonerates a person who has been convicted. If you sentence a person to life in prison, and then some case takes an odd twist at some future date, the person might still have a chance to enjoy some part of their remaining life. Once they're executed, however, its obviously too late.

thats why I put a lot of weight on DNA evidence. I have no problem executing these monsters when the DNA evidence is there.

IMO, DNA makes a big difference in wrongful convictions, I could see where the were more prevelent back 20 years, even 10 years ago. I'm sure there are still wrongful convictions... but if the DNA is there, go for the execution.