Last week Troy Davis was executed by the State of Georgia. Based on what we now know it is very likely that Davis was innocent. This is just one more example why we need to abolish the Death Penalty. The Death Penalty should be abandoned for many reasons including the obvious reason that there is no compelling evidence that it reduces crime. The Death Penalty just like the War on Drugs is a useful tool for politicians to inflame the masses and garner votes while being a blight and drag on our society.
And a close cousin of the Death Penalty is the reliance on eye witness testimony when it has been known for decades that eye witness testimony is highly unreliable.
All of this makes one wonder when a significant portion of the population of the USA will get a clue about these and related topics. Soon I hope but looking at the current state of political discussion in the USA I am not overly optimistic. However I have not yet slipped into pessimism.
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