The subject of the death penalty, or capital punishment, remains a divisive issue in the United States due to instances of wrongful convictions involving innocent citizens and minors who have been executed for crimes such as murder. Nevertheless, numerous countries have abolished the death penalty from 1976 to 2005. This includes Portugal, Norway, Brazil, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland Spain South Africa Canada The United Kingdom Mexico among others.
In the past, Turkey was denied entry into the European Union because it practiced capital punishment, which was deemed as barbaric by EU officials. However, a recent decision by the European Parliament has called on the United States to abandon its use of the death penalty since it is seen as uncivilized in Europe. Additionally, there have been instances where people who were sentenced to death were later d
...iscovered to be innocent.
In December 1998, Anthony Potter was erroneously given a death sentence in Illinois. Despite his innocence, he faced execution until it was discovered that he had not committed the crime and subsequently released from custody.
The credibility of this story suggests that if the information had been revealed even just two days later, an innocent person could have been killed. It's worth considering how often such facts are delayed. A similar example is Ruben Cantu, a young Texan who was sentenced to death for murder and theft despite claiming he was innocent. The trial heavily relied on one witness - an undocumented immigrant who was injured during the break-in.
Following the execution of Ruben Cantu, a witness alleged that law enforcement coerced him into falsely identifying Cantu as the perpetrator despite knowing he was innocent. Despite hi
co-defendant's initial silence, they ultimately admitted to committing the offense and confirmed Cantu's absence at the time. Tragically, an individual with no prior criminal history was erroneously executed; had they been convicted of an alternate offense, they would have been acquitted.
Typically, once someone is executed, their case is deemed closed with little desire to fund further investigation or experimentation to prove their posthumous innocence due to the high cost of such endeavors. As a result, it's unknown how many innocent individuals have been put to death and disregarded because of the irreversible nature of capital punishment. It's important to keep in mind that violence only leads to more violence.
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