The Death Penalty Needs a Better Appeals Process

On December 23, 1991, the Willingham family home was engulfed in flames. Stacey Willingham was shopping for Christmas gifts, while Cameron Todd Willingham was home sleeping at the time of the

Imagine that you are arrested and going to be tried for a crime that you did, or did not, commit. What if you cannot afford the cost of a lawyer? Will you be able to handle the physical and mental toll that all of the appeals have on a person? The death penalty, or capital punishment, is one of the most debated topics in America. It has been used for centuries, but many claim it to be barbaric, and want the practice to end all together. The death penalty should only be used in cases where there is absolute evidence that the criminal is guilty, because life in prison can be an alternative, there are many flaws in the justice system, and it can be a cruel and unusual punishment.

In 1991, a fire occurred at Cameron Willingham’s house ending the life of his 3 young daughters. He escaped safely with only minor cuts and bruises, but it only resulted in prosecutors charging him with starting the fire. It was argued that he started the fire to cover up the abuse of his girls, even though there is no evidence. His wife, who was not home at the time, testified saying that he never beat up the kids, and in fact spoiled them rotten. Laboratory tests verified, however, that there was a liquid poured all around the house from the porch to start the fire; this was enough evidence for the court to shut down their testimonies. Cameron was executed on February 17th, 2004. Later on, in June 2009 the State of Texas ordered a re-evaluation only to find that he was innocent and that the prosecutor testified against Willingham in return for a secret promise to have his own criminal sentence reduced (Possley).

In the short video “Death by Fire” we learn of the story of Todd Willingham. We are presented with facts about a fire, which killed Willingham’s three children, which ultimately sent him to his death. The case begins in the small town of Corsicana, Texas. On December 13, 1991 Todd Willingham’s home was ablaze and his children were trapped inside. Neighbors say they witnessed Willingham outside, on the front porch screaming for his children and screaming for help. As the fire raged, firefighters arrived on the scene and were able to pull one of the children out of the home. Unfortunately all of the children died due to injuries they sustained in the fire. While the fire raged in the house Todd’s wife Stacy was out Christmas shopping and was unharmed. The attitude of Todd after the fire began to raise question with those who were close to him and also with investigators. The night after the fire, a local bar had a benefit to raise money for Todd’s family to help pay for the costs they would soon face. Many say that Todd became too involved with the festivities and seemed like he did not care his kids had just died. They say that Todd was bragging about how money would begin to roll in because people would feel bad for him. Having seen these things, investigators immediately labeled Todd as their prime suspect.

The death penalty can lead to the death of innocent people. For example, “…According to a new study, serious errors occur in almost 70% of all trials leading to the death penalty…”(Leibman). This shows that if 100 people were put on death row, 70 would have serious mistakes in their

It seems that the bias surfacing in today’s death penalty is of class. The most skilled defense attorneys cost a lot and without a proper lawyer, it’s difficult to lessen a lengthy sentence. According to Amnesty International, only about 5% of death row inmates could actually afford their own attorney. The court appointed lawyers lack experience, are overworked and underpaid. There have even been cases where these professionals turn up to the court date drunk or high. A favorite saying of those on death row goes, “Those without the capital get the

There are many injustices that plague the United States Justice System. The death penalty is a prime example of this. A major problem associated with the death penalty is the unavoidable fact that potentially innocent people are being executed. Researchers estimate that over 340 executed inmates, could have been exonerated; which means that over 340 people were wrongfully killed! With the arrival of DNA testing in the mid 80’s, by 1992, 17 death row inmates in the US where acquitted and released. The sad fact remains that all capital punishment cases don’t have DNA evidence, in fact many do not. It is terrifying to contemplate that whether a person lives or dies can be determined based on eyewitness testimony. The innocence Project researchers report that 73% of 239 convictions reversed because of DNA, were based on eyewitness testimony. The only effective way of using the death penalty is to ensure the certainty of guilt amongst the inmates on death row; which is inherently unrealistic or impossible. The injustice does not stop there. Approximately 3% of all executions are botched, meaning that the inmate was conscious, in excruciating pain, or the death was prolonged beyond the intended speed. In cases like Allen Lee Davis’ or Romell Broom, the death penalty is proven to be an inhumane way to punish inmates. The American Civil Liberties Union believes “the death penalty inherently violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the

Many death row inmates were convicted while being defended by a court appointed lawyer who are often the worst paid and most inexperienced and least skillful lawyers. The Bar Association published guidelines for a good defense in a death penalty case”. Anti-death Penalty ( 2010)

In the past two decades, over half of the death penalty trials have contained constitutional errors, and five percent of those people were exonerated during retrial proving the faults of the current system. As Leahy stated, “ We have cast iron scientific proof that a significant number of people sentenced to death in America in the late twentieth century have been absolutely, undeniably innocent.” This goes to show that one out of three cases that are successful is simply not good enough. Cases in which DNA testing has proven inmates innocence shows that the system is not perfect, and when it comes to a person’s life, there is no room for constitutional violations. There is another problem in death penalty trials, the lawyers. In too many cases defendants have been assigned lawyers who were later disbarred, suspended or are fresh out of law school with little to no experience. Finding quality lawyers who can handle a death penalty trial appropriately to do it pro bono, or for little pay is hard. This is why Leahy came up with the “Innocence Protection Act” to provide funding in order to give defendants accurate representation in death penalty trials

"Since 1973, over eighty people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence" (Innocence and the Death Penalty 1). Statistics say that of the three-thousand six hundred people on death row right now, at least one hundred of them are innocent (Capital Punishment 1). When an innocent person is executed, the real killer is still on the streets ready to victimize someone else (Pragmatic Arguments 1). The most important problem is that when an innocent person is executed, they represent another human being who did not deserve to die.

Texas Capital Punishment is not as reasonable as one might assume. It is not reasonable since there have been many innocent individuals who have been executed. One might wonder how an innocent individual is given Capital Punishment, and through out the Trial he or she is found guilty and hurl for execution. Many facing Capital Punishment are underprivileged individuals who cannot afford a private lawyer, in which he or she relies on the State of Texas to appoint an attorney for them (Byrd & Price, 2008). Much of the time, the appointed lawyers are overloaded with cases, don’t have time to review the case before trial, and don’t have trial experience required for a capital punishment case (Byrd & Price, 2008). According to the Death penalty

Decisions over crimes that are subject to the death penalty and how it is implemented are vast. In the early 1960’s, the American government determined the death penalty to be “cruel and unusual punishment”, or anything that could be deemed as inhumane or violates a person's dignity (Part I). As with the application of the death penalty, the determination of who would decide whether the guilty party would be executed has also changed over time. Historically, many people believed that the jury should be the deciding factor over whether one was a candidate for the death penalty, but courts disagreed. The courts believed that if juries were making the decision of the punishment it would affect their decision to convict a guilty person based

It is argued that most people who support capital punishment are the families of the victims. In their eyes execution is revenge, but how can you trust a system that is not always correct? Would taking a life of another stop criminals and lower the crime rate, or would it bring the victims back to life? In most cases the answer is no. Moreover, it appears that the legal system is not always accurate, and that innocent people have been executed and convicted. Over 142 men and women have been discharged from the death row over the past 40 years. Also in the past four years evidence has come up that some men have been mistakenly executed for crimes they did not commit. (Love, 2013) After learning about these mistakes that the law has made and continues to make, it is petrifying to know that the majority of people are blinded by sorrow and justice, that they exclude the truth and facts from their knowledge. If they were to take into consideration its inaccuracy shown many times over, they would agree on suspending the use of the death penalty as a punishment for

The death penalty is unfair for several reasons, one of them being that legal assistance for inmates on death row has become increasingly difficult to find. Prisoners on death row filing for appeal have little or no chance for receiving a fair second chance. "Most of the legal work is done for free, and even lawyers dedicated to making sure these prisoners receive all their legal rights cannot be expected to spend all of their time

Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process of appeals,