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I would like for anyone to give me any case where an innocent person was put to death...
just one will do.

Here's my story. Do any of you know who Willie Sutton, the famous bank robber was? He's famous for the line, That's where the money is, when asked why he robbed banks. Anyway, he told me, personally, that the ONLY reason he never killed anyone during a bank robbery was because he knew that he would be given the death penalty. Period. So those who say it's not a deterrant do not know what they're talking about.

The death penalty is the ultimate deterrant. Dead people don't kill again.

The heck with those wussies at Amnesty International. They spend more time wailing about the few convicted murderers (ie. genuine bad guys) getting whacked in U.S. jails than they do about the thousands of people executed in Third World jails, mostly without trial.

Some valid points, but a dangerous and inexcusable mistatement of the most important objection to the death penalty in "Myth 4." Bottom line is, there are reasons death penalty cases are particularly likely to condemn the occasional innocent person, and there is abundant evidence that this happens quite a bit. I think the threshold question in any death penalty discussion is how many innocent people are we willing to execute in order to get at the guilty ones? This is not an abstract question.

Myth 1 -- Racism. It is true that those who kill a black victim are less likely to face execution than those who kill a white person. While race evidently plays a factor in prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty, I don't think "racism" is a valid argument against the death penalty.

Myth 2 -- It does cost more from beginning to end for a capital case, so its not really a myth. Of course this is a weak argument against the death penalty, since we shouldn't practice checkbook criminal justice. However, this one usually comes up since death penalty supporters usually complain about the costs of a lengthy prison term.

Myth 3 -- Innocence. This is absolutely not a myth and is, in fact, the best reason to worry about the death penalty. In Illinois alone, 13 men have been released from death row due to their innocence having been established. This is after trial and appeals. Fact is, the more horrible murders that usually lead prosecutors to seek death in the first place are often the ones that police, prosecutors, and public (from which jurors come) want convictions and death sentences, whether or not the evidence is reliable. I can absolutely guarantee that no innocent people have been put to death in Illinois since the governor imposed the moritorium.

Myth 4 -- DNA is foolproof. While DNA has indeed resulted in freeing the wrongfully convicted, and one hopes would prevent some wrongful convictions in the first place, it is not the final answer. DNA evidence is only as good as collection, chain of custody and the lab. Even if one supposes that no one ever makes mistakes or tampers with evidence, DNA is not a factor in every case. Besides, to the extent DNA is seen as conclusive proof in every case, there is more risk of conviction on that factor alone will result in a conviction, even where case-specific factors might suggest it is not reliable in a given prosecution.

Myth 5 -- Cruel and Unusual. Agreed that while one may have individual moral qualms about the state being in the business of naming citizens for death, I don't think it is per se constitutionally infirm, nor have courts thought so.

Myth 6 -- Pro-life. One can argue philosophies. I don't think there is anything necessarily inconsistent with the Catholic "seamless garment" position, but society is always in the business of placing relative values on human life, whether we like it or not. One can justifiably distinguish between killing innocent babies in abortion, and killing (hopefully) guilty adults in the death penalty. One can also make an appealing argument for respecting life in all routine applications of government.

Myth 7 -- Bad company. Okay, Europeans enjoy a frisson of moral superiority over the U.S. because they don't execute people and we do. Who wants to be French, anyway?

Myth 8 -- Deterrence. Most criminals, especially murderers, aren't considering the down side when they commit a crime. In fact, if there is a common factor among criminals, it is that they seem to live for the moment. Whatever arguments one may make for the death penalty, general deterrence is among the weakest. Of course, specific deterrence is a valid argument, although undercut by life sentences that do, in fact, mean life in prison.

Myth 9 -- Christianity. One might expect a religion whose chief event revolves around Roman capital punishment to hold the death penalty a little suspect. But how various denominations view the death penalty is their business, so if Christians want to argue this point, that's fine.

Myth 10 -- Mercy vs. saving the soul of the condemned. Hmmm... certainly a useful argument when burning people at the stake, but I'm not comfortable with it in an argument about state policy.

Whether one supports or opposes the death penalty is a matter of personal conscience. Whether we should continue a flawed system with a well-documented history of condemning innocent citizens to execution by their government is a matter for serious public discussion.