SUMMARY: Helen Prejean has never been afraid to tell the world about how many people die at the hands of the death penalty, but are often innocent. Now this is her opinion and she is untitled to it but what intrigues me is the fact that she could be onto something. Jurors make their decisions based upon the facts that they are given in the court room, but if they are lied to or are given falsified information that means that their decision is probably going to be influenced.
ANALYSIS: Without knowing what is true and what is not, jurors can't make informed decisions. Now we all know that our court system has been around for hundreds of years and has been pretty effective but with the unknown aspect of the jurors thrown in, the court system relies heavily on human opinion. Really our best option is that people should just stop being stupid and stop committing crimes so these jurors don't have to make uninformed decisions. Because that's realistic. Now I'm not saying that these people aren't guilty or even that they are, all I'm saying is that something needs to be done to make sure that the information presented in the court room is indeed true.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/12/opinions/prejean-glossip-case/index.html
I completely agree with you. You honestly NEVER know what happens in a situation. Unless there is a witness,which isn't always 100% accurate, or actual concrete evidence, like a video that shows what happened. I am sure there are several people who have died from the Death Penilty, that have been falsely accused, but we never know. However, right now the most we have as "evidence" are the things that spill out of the mouths, of the people who "know".
ReplyDelete-Carrington Whigham
I agree with you, decisions made in court are based on opinion regarding the evidence provided, so there's no guarantee that the person being convicted is really guilty of it. With this in mind, the death penalty is a scary punishment, especially if the person isn't really guilty.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a problem that will not be solved. The jury decision situation was established in early America. It is sad, but unfortunately I do not see a true solution to this.
ReplyDeleteThat's the worst part about this situation; It has been a problem for centuries!! Our current legal system shares many seventeenth century flaws, like executing the falsely convicted. In 1692, it was the Salem Witch Trials. In the twenty-first century, it is people like Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed under questionable evidence of killing his daughters in a house fire before further evidence found him innocent. False convictions were a problem in the seventeenth century, and continue to be a problem today.
ReplyDeleteLauren Bush;9th;Comment #3