The Death Penalty: What is an Acceptable Error Percentage?

Though the Georgia Supreme court has agreed to finally hear his appeal, Troy Davis sits on death row for the murder of Officer Mark McPhail in Savannah GA, despite the fact that most of the witnesses have since recanted, many alleging they were pressured or coerced by police.

There was no physical evidence against him and the weapon used in the crime was never found. The case against Davis consisted entirely of witness testimony, which contained inconsistencies even at the time of the trial.

As Davis fights for his life, the American Bar Association recently released a report that evaluated the fairness and accuracy of capital punishment of eight states, including Georgia. The report is based on a simple premise that if ours is a society that is going to have a death penalty there can be no margin for error.

The ABA findings found serious problems in every state they evaluated, fueling calls for a moratorium on the death penalty.

According to the report, states generally are failing to require the preservation of physical and/or biological evidence through the entire legal process. DNA testing statutes often are drafted too narrowly, with strict filing deadlines and onerous procedural hurdles.

States are not requiring that crime laboratories and medical examiner offices be accredited. Most states have had at least one serious incident of crime lab mistakes or fraud.

Every state evaluated continues to struggle with racial disparities in its capital system. And none seem to have addressed the impact that mental illness as well as mental retardation can have on capital cases.

Moreover, with some states utilizing judicial elections, there can be an erosion of judicial independence as judges are increasingly selected based on their political positions, especially on capital punishment, than justice and fairness.

These findings and others within the report strongly indicate the only consistency is the inconsistencies in the manner in which capital punishment is administered. As a result, if you are poor, a racial minority, or suffering from mental health or mental retardation, you have a much better chance of receiving the death penalty.

The ABA report is hardly groundbreaking. It does, however, bring light to the inequity of the policy.

Suppose all the flaws cited in the ABA report were addressed, is it possible to have a perfect capital punishment policy? On matters of life and death, at what point do the errors become unacceptable?

Why is it that a country that consistently demonstrates distrust for government with benign matters can allow for such bureaucratic malfeasance on the critical issue of life?

Are the poor, racial minorities, or those suffering from mental health or mental retardation expendable political pawns? The obvious answer is yes. Ambitious politicians, running on tough on crime policies, can take the most egregious scenarios and make them emblematic of the whole. The system is flawed; Illinois proved that in 2000 when it exonerated 13 men on death row who had been wrongly convicted.

I have no idea if Troy Davis is innocent. I do know that his life cannot be in jeopardy based on a system that has nothing more than inconsistent witness testimony on which to convict him.

Given that it is a system that cannot be 100 percent accurate, what then is an acceptable percentage of accuracy? Anything above zero is a form of social triage. Our collective primordial thirst for revenge blinds us to the insanity of the policy.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, America has executed roughly 1,100 individuals comprised mostly of those mentioned in the ABA study. One can only wonder if some were wrongly convicted.

While I applaud the work of the ABA to bring these issues of injustice to light, calling for a moratorium on the death penalty is just the beginning. The goal must be for America to join the ranks of countries like Honduras, Haiti, and Senegal by abolishing the death penalty, thereby leaving the fraternity headed by North Korea, China, and Somalia.

Byron Williams is an Oakland pastor and syndicated columnist. E-mail [e-mail] or leave a message at 510-208-6417

Comments

[andygaus]

Two points: 1) There is no error-free human process. You can't call for error-free capital punishment: you accept it with some errors, or you abolish it. 2) Long waits on Death Row are perhaps the most inhumane part of capital punishment, worse than the actual execution. Both sides in the Sacco and Vanzetti murder trial in the 1920s agreed on one thing: that it was a horrid abuse for the two men, guilty or innocent, to be held in limbo awaiting their end for a period of 7 years while the law wrangled over their case. Now a legal wrangling of 7 years is considered the least a civilized society can do. By contrast, the would-be assassin of FDR in 1933 was executed within a month. I could just about be in favor of capital punishment if it had to be carried out in 30 days. At any rate, we have certainly not made capital punishment more civilized -- or increased its deterrent effect -- by dragging every case out for years at untold expense: it adds up to the opposite of respect for human life.

[AgathaPaige]

In my humble opinion, based on this article, it seems that it is not capital punishment itself that should be in question, but the processes taken to arrive at that ultimate conclusion.

My question is, if these faults occur, to the level which you believe is troublesome, why are those faulted processes not brought up during the legal proceedings? Do we put that little of trust in the jury system as well? Maybe that is where we look at this issue more closely.

If I were on a jury in ANY case, capital or otherwise, and it was noted that there was an error in the processes taken to determine the defendant's guilt, it would most certainly raise resonable doubt, wouldn't it? I certainly couldn't put someone to death knowing there were mistakes made in coming to that ultimate conclusion. Who would?

Two cases prominent in the media currently come to mind where the SYSTEM has/will let murderers off, too: O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson. Although Scott Peterson is still on death row, it seems he may be looking at freedom very soon due to serious errors made during his trial.

Perhaps the acceptable error percentage actually averages itself to zero with the number of the profoundly guilty set free vs. the truly innocent convicted? I have no idea, but it's just a thought.

I don't see the issue being with capital punishment. But, most definately, the systems in place to arrive at that conclusion need some serious looking in to.

[Ooogee]

An excellent post as usual Byron.
We, as a nation, can no longer allow the demonstrably flawed legal system to pass final and irrevocable judgement on our brothers and sisters and sit bye passively on our collective hands. The ABA report is just the latest in a mountain of reports that refute the fairness and equity of the death penalty in an admittedly racist and classist society. We were once leaders of the free world. We are now anachronisms of the worst and most despicable traits in the the human species. We incarcerate more people (in real and per capita terms) than any nation on earth. We seek to kill our own citizens knowing that the process is deeply flawed and verdicts seldom reflect guilt or innocence- but wealth and privilege or ignorance and poverty. Despite knowing all these things in our heart of hearts, we still insist on exacting the ultimate price. WHY?

[Kansas Evans]

Why is it that a country that consistently demonstrates distrust for government with benign matters can allow for such bureaucratic malfeasance on the critical issue of life?
______________

I can think of a few reasons. Racism, elitism, "it won't happen to me"ism, etc. There's no reason for the death penalty. It's costs more than a life sentence. It doesn't deter crime. The victims' families' sense of revenge are rarely satisfied. It's just a system that needs to be scrapped.

[WorkingClass]

"Are the poor, racial minorities, or those suffering from mental health or mental retardation expendable political pawns? The obvious answer is yes".

Americans have no shame.

[Norge]

The death penalty exceptable % is zero. O

www.amnesty.org

[Mormondude]

And what about people that are absolutely and unquestionably guilty? There is no reason to stand in the way of justice for them.

Death sentences can already be commuted or delayed or appealed on a case by case basis. A moratorium is not really necessary when there are so many avenues available to deal with isolated incidents.

[drgrph]

The release of one guilty person who later murders again - what is the acceptable percentage of error?

Statistically, there were no additional deaths in the general population from the 1100 who met a just end. I intentionally use the word just as the genesis of capital punishment is justice, not retribution or deterrence.

Listen, I do understand the point you are trying to make. No innocent person should be executed. Maybe some are. But society should also have an expectation of safety from repeat or serial murderers. They should also expect that our legal system does, in fact, represent justice. Clearly this is not currently the case, at least not in Pennsylvania. The fact that Mumia Abu Jamal just drew another breath proves this to be true.