Abolition of the death penalty

The death penalty should be abolished in Illinois and probably in the rest of the country. It has been shown that a number of men on death row were actually innocent.

In my opinion, it is not worth the effort to maintain the death penalty. A lot of time, effort and money is needed to make sure the state does not execute an innocent person and it is not apparent that Illinois is willing to make this expenditure.

The revelations that many people were on death row who should not be makes it clear that any system run by humans cannot be without doubt. Further, the twists of politics makes it likely that some bias or shortcut will be taken in some cases.

This is not an opinion based on a moral argument. Rather, it is based on the fact that ensuring the criminal justice system is free of the capability for executing an innocent person is not worth the trouble.

It is time to stop the death penalty in Illinois.