These are such bullshit. Let's grab a couple as examples:
Reuben Cantu's case is outlined reasonably fairly in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R
uben_Cantu
Leader of the Grey Eagles street gang, professional car thief by 15; older brothers both convicted on drug and theft charges.
In short, there was a murder/robbery in which he participated, not clear if he was the shooter or not. Case went cold. Later, he shot a plainclothes cop in a bar with witnesses for which he wasn't prosecuted due to a later police illegal search. Cop survived, and decided to reopen the cold case, 'finding' enough evidence to convict him on the earlier murder/robbery.
20 years later, his codefendant (who claimed Cantu'd been the murderer) said it was 'some other kid' - who had nothing more than a misdemeanor on his record. The surviving victim has recanted his oath-given testimony in the trial.

Claude Jones:
From http://www.clarkprosecutor.org
/html/...S/jones682.htm
"Jones, who also used the aliases Carl Roy Davis, Butch Jones, and Douglas Ray Starke, had eleven prior convictions in Texas for crimes including murder, armed robbery, assault, and burglary. He served 6 years of a 9-year prison sentence from 1959 to 1963 and three years of a 5-year sentence from 1963 to 1965. In 1976, he was convicted of murder, robbery, and assault in Kansas and received a life sentence. While in Kansas prison, Jones killed another inmate. "...by LIGHTING HIM ON FIRE.

These were not "innocent men". The first was an habitual criminal who'd resorted to violence and escaped the obvious and known killing of a cop in front of witnesses on a technicality. The second was a mean, worthless human who SHOULD have been killed long before.

I'm glad they are both dead. If that makes me bloodthirsty, so be it. I'd shoot a rabid dog, too, and sleep just fine that night.

The point of fact is that I have not yet seen a case of one of these "innocent men wrongly executed" that I actually found to be honestly true. In EVERY case, it's more accurately "worthless sumbich finally gets a date with a hangman that he's richly deserved for years, but for charges that were trumped up or questionable this time".

In every case, it is NOT the execution of an innocent man - it's the execution of a man who deserved killing who MAY have been innocent *this* time.

Even if you don't find the right criminal, somebody's a scapegoat.

Except if you're a Wall Street trader.

Sorry but that's something I will never understand... how do you expect to teach the future generations that killing is wrong, by killing other people? where's the logic behind it?

styopa,

wise words, my friend.
Still, let alone statistically, there ARE "innocent" people who were executioned. And I pray (to whoever signs responsible for this) that I will never be the one who awaits being killed without "proper" reason.

So true Jimmy,.,.

Really sad

Sad that they can't have their Shawshank redemption moment

Food much too greasy ! They will not live very long...

boink,

Statistically, that's true.
Then again, there are thousands of people that die every day for no 'reason' other than they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It sucks to be so nakedly utilitarian, but the fact is, if one considers them (the microscopic fraction of 'innocents' that make it through the torturous legal system and are finally executed) the regrettable but natural consequence to a necessity of irrevocably removing dangerous people from society permanently, then the tradeoff is absolutely unquestionable.
(And this is disregarding the deterrent effect of capital punishment, which is hotly debated but I doubt is significant when fewer than 1/1000 of death row inmates are actually executed.)

Don't forget that in the US, we accept trading what, 40,000 lives/year in exchange for the convenience of driving cars?

Styopa. Thank you for making the effort to reseach and post that. Just goes to show you what the right (or wrong) "Spindoctor" can do to blur the truth...

WTF

@styopa, are you aware of The Innocence Project? They have saved 1000s of completely innocent lives of wrongly convicted people. It happens all the time, disproportionately to minorities. You sound like someone with a lot of anger. May your heart find peace.

styopa,

you have a very cynical point of view.
And you must not compare something that happens ACCIDENTALLY (like an accident) with something that's done INTENTIONALLY.

Ah well, thus far they didn't find me yet. . . .

sad