Death Penalty - Herrera vs Collins Essay -- Capital Punishment Essays

Death Penalty - Herrera vs CollinsThe Supreme Court address the constitutionality of executing someone who claimed actual innocence in Herrera v. Collins (506 U.S. 390 (1993)). Although the Court left open the possibility that the Constitution bars the execution of someone who once and for all demonstrates that he or she is actually innocent, the Court noted that such cases would be very rare. The Court held that, in the absence of other constitutional violations, new register of innocence is no reason for federal courts to order a new trial. The Court also held that an innocent inmate could seek to prevent his execution by means of the clemency process, which, historically, has been the fail safe in our justice system. Herrera was not granted clemency, and was executed in 1993..Since Herrera, concern regarding the possibility of executing the innocent has g wordsn. Currently, more than 80 death row inmates have been released because of innocence since 1973. In November, 1998 North western University held the first-ever National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty, in Chicago, Illinois. The Conference, which drew nationwide attention, brought together 30 of these wrongfully convicted inmates who were exonerated and released from death row. Many of these cases were discovered not as the result of the justice system, but instead as the result of new scientific techniques, investigations by journalism students, and the work of volunteer attorneys. These resources are not available to the typical death row inmate.Public SupportSupport for the death penalty has fluctuated end-to-end the century. According to Gallup surveys, in 1936 61% of Americans favored the death penalty for persons convicted of murder... ... retain the death penalty, including China, Iran, and the United States, all of which rank among the highest for international executions in 1998. (Amnesty International, 1999)----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------SourcesAmnesty International, total of Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, Report ACT 50/01/99, April 1999D. Baker A Descriptive Profile and Socio-Historical Analysis of Female Executions in the United States 1632-1997 10(3) Women and Criminal Justice 57 (1999)R. Bohm, Deathquest An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States, Anderson Publishing, 1999.The Death Penalty in America Current Controversies, H. Bedau, editor, Oxford University Press, 1997.K. OShea, Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900-1998, Praeger 1999.