What is the one and only thing we can do to make sure no innocent person gets the death penalty?

[CreekDog]

and is that life worth doing that one thing?

[Maedhros]

1. Don't have a death penalty. [n/t]

[easychoice]

2. beat me to it

the way the cops lie we should never let the state off anyone.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Get rid of the death penalty! And yes, that life is worth it. n/t

[MillennialDem]

4. Chance to correct mistakes? Hell yes. Moral arguments aside, the chance to fix

fuckups alone is worth it a thousand fold.

[libisnota4letterword]

5. killing people

I have yet to understand how killing people to teach people that killing people is wrong works.

[Suich]

6. Good point!

[Prophet 451]

7. There's a few answers

First option: Try and create telepaths or technology that would have teh same effect (and that's at least forty years away).

Second option: Have you read Hominids? That suggests a world where everyone is implanted with a personal computer (similar to a small tablet pc) that also records everything around them. Records are held centrally but may only be accessed by teh user or law enforcement investigating a crime.

Third option: Abolish the death penalty. I'm conflicted on this one. I believe in the death penalty but only in cases where we have absolute proof of guilt. I'm thinking the mountains of concurring evidence from eye-witness, psychologists and all the forensic scientists that convicted Harold Shipman (for example). If there is anything less than absolute proof, the death penalty cannot and must not be used.

I also think that, within the next twenty years, advances in technology will make this an obsolete argument. By then, we'll have developed long-term suspended animation. So we just freeze the perp and warehouse the block of ice (or cryo-tank or whatever). If it turns out that we were wrong, we can just thaw them out and let them go with apologies and whatever payment is deemed appropriate.