Reggie Clemons was a normal man living a normal life until he became a suspect in the rape and double homicide of two sisters - Julie and Robin Kerry. Clemons deserves to be free due to the misconduct of the investigators and tampering with evidence, he can get off death row by appealing the case and getting the state of Missouri to look into dropping the death penalty from the case due to the circumstances, and the death penalty should be outlawed all together due to all the expenses and risks involved.
Reggie Clemons was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the rape and murder of sisters – Julie and Robin Kerry (Amnesty International). The problem happens to be the evidence used against him was not illegal and he should not have been convicted by US law (Kohler). The police and investigators would take him in for interrogation and then savagely beat him until he admitted to the crimes and whatever else they wanted him to confess too; the police imposed their will upon him (Kohler). The police even tricked the court system by leaving out the crucial piece of evidence that was Reggie Clemons probation officer talking about the injuries Clemons had when he would leave interrogations (Kohler). The investigators changed the probations officer’s files, removing any part that mentioned Clemons injuries and where they were suspected from coming from (Kohler). This most likely would have made the judge dismiss any confession or evidence the investigators got from Clemons during interrogations (Kohler). This should have led to a mistrial and Reggie Clemons a free man instead of being locked up for 25 years and waiting on death row. Thomas Cummins was with the two sisters, that Reggie Clemons is convicted of murdering, when the attack went down and he himself confessed to pushing the sisters off the bridge which he also later jumped off, but survived (Kohler). Cummins also admitted that the police had beaten both him and Clemons had an eerily similar thing told to them by the police right before they were beaten in the interrogation room which was to sit on their hands (Kohler). Clemons was also convicted of the rape even though the prosecutor was unable to provide any evidence supporting the claim that Clemons had raped either of the sisters (Kohler). Clemons was supposed to die in 2009, but the Supreme Court quickly got involved and ruled 3-4 and vacated all the charges and death sentence against Clemons, but the prosecutors are attempting to retry him for the murders and is currently waiting in prison once again for a re-trial (Amnesty International). The death penalty is still one the table when it obviously shouldn’t be since there were so many errors in the case and the Supreme Court overruled it. The death penalty should …show more content…
As Thoreau says, “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong,” which sums up how the death penalty shouldn’t be allowed since no man should be tasked with the duty of taking the life of someone else do to their crimes and wrong doing; it’s hypocrisy (Thoreau). The death penalty is often thought to be cheaper than holding a prisoner for life, but that is false (OADP). It is believe that the state would save around 2.3 million dollars if they got rid of the death penalty, but the death penalty already causes around 9 million dollars a year (OADP). All of that money would be much better off helping the victims affected by the crimes of the criminals put on death row to give the victims counseling and assistance where needed. The death penalty also does not deter crime because states without the death penalty tend to have lower murder rates than neighboring states that do have the death penalty (OADP). The death penalty is only still living due to the misconceptions and can only be put away for good if the US citizens show their distaste for the barbaric punishment. Instead the US is spending millions of unnecessary dollars on executions and believing it deters crime which is also false (OADP). Reggie Clemons lost many years of his life due to the grueling system of death row and prison and the citizens of the US paid for it
Reggie Clemons was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the rape and murder of sisters – Julie and Robin Kerry (Amnesty International). The problem happens to be the evidence used against him was not illegal and he should not have been convicted by US law (Kohler). The police and investigators would take him in for interrogation and then savagely beat him until he admitted to the crimes and whatever else they wanted him to confess too; the police imposed their will upon him (Kohler). The police even tricked the court system by leaving out the crucial piece of evidence that was Reggie Clemons probation officer talking about the injuries Clemons had when he would leave interrogations (Kohler). The investigators changed the probations officer’s files, removing any part that mentioned Clemons injuries and where they were suspected from coming from (Kohler). This most likely would have made the judge dismiss any confession or evidence the investigators got from Clemons during interrogations (Kohler). This should have led to a mistrial and Reggie Clemons a free man instead of being locked up for 25 years and waiting on death row. Thomas Cummins was with the two sisters, that Reggie Clemons is convicted of murdering, when the attack went down and he himself confessed to pushing the sisters off the bridge which he also later jumped off, but survived (Kohler). Cummins also admitted that the police had beaten both him and Clemons had an eerily similar thing told to them by the police right before they were beaten in the interrogation room which was to sit on their hands (Kohler). Clemons was also convicted of the rape even though the prosecutor was unable to provide any evidence supporting the claim that Clemons had raped either of the sisters (Kohler). Clemons was supposed to die in 2009, but the Supreme Court quickly got involved and ruled 3-4 and vacated all the charges and death sentence against Clemons, but the prosecutors are attempting to retry him for the murders and is currently waiting in prison once again for a re-trial (Amnesty International). The death penalty is still one the table when it obviously shouldn’t be since there were so many errors in the case and the Supreme Court overruled it. The death penalty should …show more content…
As Thoreau says, “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong,” which sums up how the death penalty shouldn’t be allowed since no man should be tasked with the duty of taking the life of someone else do to their crimes and wrong doing; it’s hypocrisy (Thoreau). The death penalty is often thought to be cheaper than holding a prisoner for life, but that is false (OADP). It is believe that the state would save around 2.3 million dollars if they got rid of the death penalty, but the death penalty already causes around 9 million dollars a year (OADP). All of that money would be much better off helping the victims affected by the crimes of the criminals put on death row to give the victims counseling and assistance where needed. The death penalty also does not deter crime because states without the death penalty tend to have lower murder rates than neighboring states that do have the death penalty (OADP). The death penalty is only still living due to the misconceptions and can only be put away for good if the US citizens show their distaste for the barbaric punishment. Instead the US is spending millions of unnecessary dollars on executions and believing it deters crime which is also false (OADP). Reggie Clemons lost many years of his life due to the grueling system of death row and prison and the citizens of the US paid for it