Capital punishment, as applied in our legal system, has none of the characteristics of good laws. It’s not reliable: we literally convict and condemn innocent people all the time. It’s not repeatable: similar crimes are treated as capital offenses or not depending on minor aggravating factors, the random geography of where the crime took place, or the good graces of the judge or jury that happens to hear the case. And, most importantly, it’s not just or fair: the death penalty is carried out more frequently against poor defendants and even more frequently against Black and brown defendants.
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