CEJ #3: National

2/5/13

A Death Penalty Fight Comes Home

Annapolis, MD

(Shane, Scott)

"The New York Times"

2/5/13

US/National

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/us/exonerated-inmate-seeks-end-to-maryland-death-penalty.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=us

The death penalty seems harsh, but it is much worse if you imagine how many innocent people can die by it. Kirk Bloodsworth was given that harsh sentence when he was accused and found guilty of the rape and murder of a little girl, but sadly, he had committed no crime. He was accused in 1984, and was not found innocent until 1993, having spent almost a decade in prison. A DNA test set him free, even thought back then the tests were just getting starting and were not trusted by many. Lots of people have been freed by DNA testing these days, but in our country he was the first. He has come back into the spotlight recently because of his extensive work against the death penalty; he has done so much in Maryland that they are close to ending it in their borders. He travels the nation, spreading his story and causing people to truly believe that the death penalty must be ended. As he said, "If it could happen to me, it could happen to anybody" (nytimes). His work is paying off, and there is going to be a vote in the State Senate deciding whether or not to do away with the death penalty for good in Maryland. Luckily for him, the man who really committed his crime was found and will spend the rest of his time behind bars. Bloodsworth is completely free and innocent now, but he still works hard to make sure that anyone else in his position gets out as he eventually did.
This article shocked me. I had never thought much about the death penalty, but I don't think I could support it after reading this man's story. If I had been the one who accused him and said he should die, I don't know how I could live with myself. I think that as our technology continues, we should be able to determine accurately whether or not a person is guilty, but until then we cannot kill people that might be innocent. Isn't that how our country is supposed to be, with no one guilty until proven to be so? This article was free of bias, but it still caused me to disagree with the idea of the penalty. I think that soon, it will be illegal all over the United States. When people like Bloodsworth speak out, it is hard not to listen to their story and feel awful for letting them spend time in prison when they did nothing wrong. Many states have outlawed the penalty, and the amount of people killed by it is lessening every year. The death penalty is too harsh, and I think the general population is starting to see that.