In 1976, Jesse Tafero and his wife Sophia were convicted of killing a state police officer and sentenced to die In 1990, Jesse Tafero was executed in Florida. In 1981, his wife's penalty was reduced by an appeal to life imprisonment, and 11 years later a federal court released her. The evidence for their convictions had been based mainly on a perjured testimony by an ex-convict. Had Tafero been alive in 1992, he no doubt would have been released along with his wife Sophia.
             Is the death penalty just? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, proclaims each person's right to protection from deprivation of life, it states that no one shall be subjected to cruel or degrading punishment. We can say that the death penalty violates your right to life, it tends to be sentenced randomly, it has failed to accomplish its stated objectives, it cost more than its alternatives, and it is wrong both morally and ethically. Put simply it is a violation of the right to live. It is the ultimate form of cruel, inhumane, or degrading punishment. The killing of prisoners violates these rights. Because of this, over half the world's countries have abolished the law or practice of the death penalty, leaving the United States among countries of extreme injustice such as Iran and China. Not only are we in the same category as these countries, we are the execution capital of the world! Now isn't that something to be proud of?
             I think it would be hard to believe that there hasn't been one innocent man or woman put to death because of a false conviction made by our legal systems. As in the case of Illinois where the Governor has suspended the death penalty after 13 convictions where overturned, this in a state that has done 12 executions. That means over half of the inmates on death row in Illinois where falsely imprisoned. We currently have over 3682 people on death row, how many of those people are falsely ...