Post Response Questions, Requires a Position Support

Post response questions, requires a position support position evidence assigned readings. Please correct sources APA. Each question 1.5 pages length. The reading attached. 1. Critics death penalty contend evidence wrongful conviction offenders sentenced death powerful evidence favor abolishing death penalty

One of the foundational principles of the American system of justice is that it is better to let a guilty man go free than it is to condemn an innocent man as guilty. The existence of the death penalty seems to belie this principle. Once someone has been put to death, there is no way to reconsider the verdict. No matter how heinous the crimes of the clearly guilty people put to death, there also have been innocent persons convicted of capital crimes. Despite all of the controls put into place within the American justice system, mistakes have been made in the past and fortunately many of these defendants were still alive, so they could be set free. The use of DNA evidence has cleared many defendants. A study of exonerations from 1989 through 2003 in the United States found a total of 340 exonerations occurred: 327 men and 13 women. 2, 144 of them were cleared by DNA evidence, 196 by other means (Gross et al. 2005: 524).

Some of these other cases were due to what were later shown to be unreliable witnesses, as in the case of child abuse allegations where "accusations were merely implausible, and appear to be have been generated by over-eager prosecutors and therapists who demanded that the young children they examined tell them that they had been molested, and would not take 'no' for an answer" (Gross et al. 2005: 539). This likewise highlights the imperfections of the justice system and its resistance to admitting when it has made a mistake. And mistakes are likely to disproportionately occur amongst the prosecutions of the poor, given that they typically have less competent representation.

Gross (et al. 2005) notes that the evidence presented by these figures is not always conclusive that the defendants were innocent It is not always clear why the defendants in question were cleared but it is conclusive evidence of the imperfections of the justice system. The American justice system, like all justice systems, is administered by human beings and can make errors. One of the most interesting aspects of the Gross study is the way in which it highlights how prosecutors and other individuals responsible for trying defendants for capital crimes do not fully understand or even trust the science behind DNA evidence. Science is often a contentious, much-disputed topic within the American political discourse, and the inability of prosecutors to understand and accept science is a frightening illustration of how innocent persons can be convicted and nearly 'fall through the cracks' of the system. "When Charles Fain was exonerated by DNA in Idaho in 2001, after eighteen years on death row for a rape murder, the original prosecutor in the case said, "It doesn't really change my opinion that much that Fain's guilty (Gross et al. 2005: 525-526). T

his stubbornness demonstrates how once the idea that a defendant is guilty is established in a prosecutor's mind, perhaps even a jury's mind, however much the individual might try to be unbiased, it can be difficult to let go of such 'first impressions.' DNA evidence in establishing innocence in a clear and objective fashion has been the most influential force in exonerating defendants. Furthermore, given that most of the crimes for which wrongful convictions have clearly been made are those which might be capital ones -- ninety-six percent were for murder or rape -- this further underlines the fact that a wrongful conviction could lead to death of an innocent man (Gross et al. 2005: 528-529). True, Gross notes this higher rate is likely due to the greater use of DNA evidence in such cases, especially rape cases, and the greater attention given to such crimes. But the number of cases that could receive the death penalty that were the result of errors -- either zealous prosecution or incompetent defense attorneys -- is formidable.

Q 2. The justice system has two fundamental functions: one of which is retributive, the other of which is rehabilitative. Defendants are asked to 'pay their debt to society' as part of their punishment. This may include community service or other types of work. In the case of supporters of the death penalty, however, there is a belief that only the ultimate punishment of death is retribution enough. There is also a rehabilitative function to the justice system, in which prisoners are rehabilitated through acts such as education and training, counseling, and being eased back into society through the process of parole and monitoring. Proponents of the death penalty say that some guilty defendants cannot be rehabilitated -- nor should they be.