Many
individuals who are against the death penalty have
changed their minds after a lifetime of being for
the death penalty when they hear cases that expose
our justice system's fallibilities, cases that prove
the human error element in our democratic experiment,
cases like that of Curtis Edward McCarty.
McCarty,
the 124th individual to be freed (May 11, 2007) from
death row because he was innocent, was just released
by the state of Oklahoma. McCarty, who had been sentenced
to die three times and has spent 21 years on Oklahoma's
death row for a crime he did not commit, has been
released after District Court Judge Twyla Mason Gray
ordered that the charges against him be dismissed.
Curtis
Edward McCarty's case and the other 123 cases of innocent
people sent to death row for crimes they did not commit
are but a few examples of the fallibility of our criminal
justice system. Together, they have served over 1200
years incarcerated for crimes they did not commit.
Ultimately, the justice system relies on humans, which
allows the inevitability of human error. The death
penalty is unique in our criminal justice system because
it is an action of utter finality - when a mistake
is made, the penalty cannot be rescinded nor restitution
granted.
Montanans
want common sense policies that hold criminals accountable,
provide healing for victims, and are fiscally responsible.
The death penalty is none of these - it is simply
bad public policy that risks executing the innocent.
The death penalty wastes millions of dollars pursuing
a handful of executions that would be better spent
on programs which are smart on crime - programs that
actually keep Montanans and future Montanans safe.
The
Coalition commends you on your interest in this weighty
topic and invites you to consider where you stand
- wherever you stand - on the death penalty. We invite
you to look around our website, learn the facts, and
see why so many ultimately realize that the death
penalty is a failed criminal justice experiment, bad
public policy, and a system that we simply can't afford
to continue...
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Innocent
North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On
Death RowRead
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