Death penalty: arguments, history, and policy implications

Death Penalty

Viewpoint Summary

Convicted wrongfully for the murder of a man by the name Delbert Baker, Juan Roberto Melendez-Colon spent more than seventeen years on death row awaiting his execution. His eventual release came after Mr. Baker's real killer confessed to the said murder. Now a free man, Melendez-Colon adds his voice to the call for the abolition of the death penalty. In his opinion, wrongful conviction cases cannot be resolved using DNA testing. In response to proponents of the death penalty who are somehow convinced that DNA testing could easily resolve persistent cases of wrongful conviction, Melendez-Colon points out that DNA "is quite limited because it is not present in the great majority of murder cases." To back up his assertion, Melendez-Colon observes that since 1973, only 17 of the 139 death row exonerations involved DNA. In his opinion, there is a huge amount of money that the State of New Hampshire could save by abolishing the death penalty. Funds saved in this case could according to Melendez-Colon be used to protect helpless members of the public from further harm by amongst other things developing and implementing crime and violence reduction programs at the community level.

How the Discussion Fits with or Relates to other Viewpoints

According to Radley Balko, DNA testing has brought to the fore the inherent shortcomings of the capital punishment system. As the author observes, with DNA testing continuing to exonerate more people, it is highly likely that a number of innocent people are still on death row. Like Melendez-Colon, Balko is convinced that DNA evidence exists in a very small number of wrongful conviction cases. In his own words, "the subset of cases for which DNA testing can prove guilt is exceedingly small." It should however be noted that in contrast to Melendez-Colon who calls for the absolute abolition of the death penalty, Patrick Leahy is more appreciative of DNA testing and the role it could play to help resolve some of the shortcomings of the capital punishment system. In addition to DNA testing, Leahy is also convinced that adequate legal representation could be of great relevance in the prevention of wrongful convictions. A Democratic senator from Vermont, Leahy points out that with the advancement of technology, DNA testing continues to be less expensive. In his own words, regardless of the cost of testing, "it is a tiny price to pay to make sure you have the right person."

Like Melendez-Colon, Philip Brasfield and Carl M. Cannon are also of the opinion that DNA testing cannot help resolve the inherent shortcomings of the capital punishment system. According to Brasfield, although post-conviction DNA testing has been of great significance in helping expose the fallibility of the said system, "DNA tests are useless in cases where no evidence is found at the crime scene." This statement effectively reinforces Cannon's assertion that DNA is largely irrelevant in a significant number of other cases including but not limited to non-rape cases. For this and several other reasons, the authors appear convinced that the execution of innocents cannot necessarily be prevented through the utilization of DNA evidence. In the opinion of both authors, the death penalty should be abolished so as to bring to an end the killing of innocents in the name of justice.