Chi-Trib: Abolish the death penalty

[City Lights]

Abolish the death penalty

Published March 25, 2007

One of the core tenets of this newspaper since its founding has been that the extraordinary power of government must be wielded carefully and sparingly--particularly when that power weighs on the life and liberty of citizens.

It has, as well, long been the position of this editorial page that the government should have the legal right to impose capital punishment--the death penalty.

An editorial in 1869 stated: "Imprisonment as a penalty for capital crime has lost all its preventative value." A Tribune editorial in 1952 called the death penalty "the most powerful deterrent to other criminals." In 1976 this page said, "The danger of executing an innocent person is often cited, but we think unjustifiably."

That last sentence sounds chilling today, in light of evidence in recent years of scores of cases in which government has wrongfully convicted defendants and sentenced them to death. The evidence of recent years argues that it is necessary to curb the government's power. It is time to abolish the death penalty.

more... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0703250314mar25,0,5515142.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed

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