Since 1976, when capital punishment was reinstated, eighty-seven men and women have been taken off death row and freed because they were proven innocent. Since the turn of the century, 343 people have been wrongly convicted. Of these, 137 were sentenced to death, twenty-five were actually executed, sixty-one served more than ten years in jail, and seven died while in prison (Rein et al. 77). These figures raise the question: how many innocent people are on death row right now? Recent studies and new evidence suggest that some death row inmates awaiting execution may have been wrongly convicted. A twenty-three year study conducted by Columbia University Law Professor James S. Liebman states that "American capital sentences are so persistently and systematically fraught with error" (Liebman et al., par. 2). In "A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995," Liebman found that the overall rate of prejudicial error in the capital system was 68%. Currently there are approximately 3,500 inmates on death row in thirty-eight states that have adopted the death penalty. Liebman's figure clearly indicates a possibility of some wrongful convictions in the cases of those still awaitin

Arguments for the continued used of the death penalty cannot be ignored. Supporters of capital punishment often have justifiable reasons for their beliefs. One argument is that the death penalty is a strong deterrent against violent crimes, murder, or terrorism. Supporters believe that life in prison is too risky a sentence. They say that it does not work in the case of habitual offenders, will not deter others from crime, and leaves too much possibility of escape. They believe that imposing the ultimate penalty has reduced the crime and murder rate. Although the murder rate is dropping each year, there is no clear evidence that it is a result of use of the death penalty. In fact, Georgia, California, Florida, Texas, and Maryland are just a few states that reported high violent crime rates and they all use capital sentencing.

What if one innocent person died as a result of a wrongful conviction? Aren't supporters of the death penalty in fact defeating their own purpose? They would be supporting the same crime that they are trying to deter.

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Capital Cases, 1973-1995." 16 Nov. 2000 .

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2781
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)