The Injustice of Capital Punishment
In the United States, justice is served to those who commit any unlawful activity, but what happens when the justice system makes a critical mistake? Capital punishment, better known as the death penalty, is exercised in 32 States in the America. It is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime, usually a severe crime like murder. However, every year someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime and sentenced to the death penalty. They are unjustly sentenced for one of three reasons: eyewitness error; false confessions; and/or inappropriate use of forensic science. Cases such as Dennis Williams, Kevin Fox, and Claude Jones are unfortunately only a few examples of how the justice system …show more content…
According to the Innocence Project, 72% of those convicted are released because DNA analysis has proved their innocence more accurately than eyewitness identification has proved they committed the crime (Eyewitness Misidentification). The human mind can only obtain 20% of what they see a day (Thalheimer). Every day after, the percentage decreases drastically; this can be weak odds to use when deciding the life and death of a person. Eye witness errors occur when witnesses change their description of the suspect after they have learned more about them through newspaper articles or photographs. They also hesitate to quickly identify the suspect, but remain certain during the court case …show more content…
Forensic science research, such as blood typing can be used in trials to inaccurately convict someone (Unreliable or Improper Forensic Science). In many crime labs throughout the country, forensic science inappropriately or withhold such evidence to benefit the plaintiffs in certain cases. During Chicago Tribune’s studies, 200 cases that were exonerated all over the United States in the last twenty years, found that 55 of the cases involved original forensic testing (Forensics Under the
In the United States, justice is served to those who commit any unlawful activity, but what happens when the justice system makes a critical mistake? Capital punishment, better known as the death penalty, is exercised in 32 States in the America. It is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime, usually a severe crime like murder. However, every year someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime and sentenced to the death penalty. They are unjustly sentenced for one of three reasons: eyewitness error; false confessions; and/or inappropriate use of forensic science. Cases such as Dennis Williams, Kevin Fox, and Claude Jones are unfortunately only a few examples of how the justice system …show more content…
According to the Innocence Project, 72% of those convicted are released because DNA analysis has proved their innocence more accurately than eyewitness identification has proved they committed the crime (Eyewitness Misidentification). The human mind can only obtain 20% of what they see a day (Thalheimer). Every day after, the percentage decreases drastically; this can be weak odds to use when deciding the life and death of a person. Eye witness errors occur when witnesses change their description of the suspect after they have learned more about them through newspaper articles or photographs. They also hesitate to quickly identify the suspect, but remain certain during the court case …show more content…
Forensic science research, such as blood typing can be used in trials to inaccurately convict someone (Unreliable or Improper Forensic Science). In many crime labs throughout the country, forensic science inappropriately or withhold such evidence to benefit the plaintiffs in certain cases. During Chicago Tribune’s studies, 200 cases that were exonerated all over the United States in the last twenty years, found that 55 of the cases involved original forensic testing (Forensics Under the