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In
recent years, various studies have found out that one in
seven people sent to death row is later proven innocent.
Despite great philosophical differences, supporters and
opponents of the death penalty agree on one basic fact:
the government should never put an innocent person to
death. The discovery that dozens, hundreds and thousands
of people sentenced to death – some of them coming days
before execution and some, hours after execution – were
really innocent of the crimes they were convicted of,
has driven a wedge in public thinking. The potential
execution of an innocent person is not the only
worrisome issue surrounding the death penalty. The
unfairness in its application, conscious or unconscious
bias with regard to the minority and the poor, the
influence of personal beliefs in prosecutorial
decisions, among others, also are of great concern.
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