I haven't read enough about the Troy Davis case to form an opinion of whether he was guilty or innocent, so I'll reserve judgment until I know the facts of the case. I'm certain there are times where innocent people are executed and that's tragic. But the problem here is the “little boy who cried wolf”. It seems to me that people morally opposed to the death penalty are prone to claiming EVERY person on death row is “innocent” so people stop listening after a while. I'm pretty sure that Mumia dude killed someone no matter how many times they claim he's a “political prisoner”. And 2 out of the 4 “innocent” guys George Ryan let out of prison are back in (gotta wonder why an “innocent man” would immediately start selling crack once he's out on the streets). I believe it's just as tragic when guilty men are freed to kill again.
Exactly. They thus do a disservice to those that actually are innocent. It's a mathematical certainty that innocent people have been executed, we need to stop that from happening.. That's the only anti argument that holds any real weight in my view, goes hand in hand with the argument that the government isn't competent enough to be trusted with the power of life and death. An innocent man getting locked up for 30 years instead of the needle isn't much better though and only anarcho-capitalists and other anarchist types want to entirely abolish the justice system.