Is it Justice or Murder?

This article is about the death penalty, whether inmates have been wrongfully executed. Perry believes that there were no innocent inmates executed but plenty of citizens believe there were. "A 2008 Harris survey found that 95 percent of respondents felt the system sometimes convict the wrong person in murder cases," and a wrong conviction leads to a wrong execution.

"No sir," Perry said. "I've never struggled with that at all. The State of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place (in) which when someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens, they get a fair hearing, they go through an appellate process, they go to the Supreme Court of the United States, if that's required."

That is Perry's response to the question, Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any of (the executed inmates) might have been innocent?

I feel that if you are a suspect in a murder case and the evidence are pointing toward you, even if they (Forensic Scientist) are not a 100 percent positive, just to give the family of the victims closure and justice, you will be convicted.

There have been over 130 death row inmates released since the 1970s because of the new evidence, including DNA. This proves that there is a possibility that innocent people have been killed/executed.

This article has an example of a possible wrongful conviction, Cameron Todd Willingham. He was executed in 2004 for a 1991 house fire in Corsicana that killed his three daughters. "Post-execution reviews have shown that conviction was largely based on the fire science theories that became outdated and UNRELIABLE." "The case also has sparked controversy about its handling by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, a panel that determined in April that investigators used scienticfically invalid techniques to conclude the fire that killed the three young girls in Corsicana had been intentionally set by their father."

Is it okay for Texas to kill people that have killed as a punishment? I feel that we, Texas, are hypocrites. Hypocrite is a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. Perry said at the debate, If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is you will be executed." We feel that killing is wrong, yet, we kill those who are found guilty of murder, who could possibly be innocent. I feel that the death penalty should only be given to those that are 100 percent guilty, or only be given to those with actual evidence, not just because of some witnesses.

"Our governor says he has lost no sleep over the notion that Texas might have executed an innocent person. We hope his sound sleep is justified, but it's hard not to have doubts."
Minnpost
Statesman