“SIX AMENDMENTS” BY JUSTICE STEVENS Chapter 5: The Death Penalty No chapter in this book more sharply defines the difference between humanitarian Justice John Paul Stevens and the distant, arrogant intellectualism of Justice Antonin Scalia. Stevens’ bases for eliminating the death penalty are, first, that it seeks retribution rather than justice; and, second, that it has been shown, especially since the advent of DNA evidence, that innocent people have been wrongly sentenced to death. Scalia’s case opinion is quoted by Stevens in this chapter: “Like other human institutions, courts and juries are not perfect. One cannot have a system of criminal punishment without accepting the possibility that someone will be punished mistakenly. That is a truism, not a revelation. But with regard to the punishment of death in the current American system, that possibility has been reduced to an insignificant minimum.” Stevens’ response: “When it comes to state-mandated killings of innocent civilians, there can be no ‘insignificant minimum’.” Stevens proposes an amendment that would add the following capitalized words to the Eighth Amendment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments SUCH AS THE DEATH PENALTY inflicted.” Tomorrow: Gun Control
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 14:46:48 +0000