We agree that there will never be a perfect system -- human beings aren't really capable of creating 100% accurate systems, certainly not in something as very complex as crime and punishment. My reaction to that is that all we can do is try our hardest to get it right, as often as we possibly can, and accept that sometimes, it will fail.
But couldn't this argument be applied to the other side as well? In order to make sure that criminals can't commit another crime we lock them up, but sometimes the system fails.
I'd like to believe that someone known to be dangerous will not be put back on the street where they can harm someone else. If prisoners are released it is because it is believed that that they have been rehabilitated. In some cases it's not the case, and the result may be another murder/rape/robbery etc. committed by someone who has been convicted of the same crime before.
The difference in that case is that the criminal is at fault for harming an innocent person and can be held responsible for doing so. While the judicial system may have failed to recognize the danger the perpetrator posed to the public, it is the perpetrator who is directly responsible. In the case of a miscarriage of justice where an innocent person is executed, the state is at fault.
In both cases an innocent person is dead. The difference is that in one case the perpetrator can be punished for the crime in accordance with the law, while in the other case the perpetrator cannot be held responsible in an effective manner and will go on to kill other innocent people (because, as others have pointed out, mistakes will happen). Aside from any kind of questions this poses in regard to morality, it also seriously harms the legitimacy of governmental authority, which is important if a political system is to function properly.
I am for the death penalty. I believe people who commit pre-meditated violent crimes should no longer have any rights.
I agree. But as long as mistakes happen, I prefer a system that protects the right of the individual not to be executed for something they did not do.
P.S. After we're done with this debate, I think we should go on to discuss prayer in schools, gay marriage, abortion rights and possibly the war in Iraq
.
