A.B.A. Group Supports Freeze On Executions

The American Bar Association believes there are serious problems with how the states handle death penalty cases, and these problems affect the fairness of trials and death penalty verdicts.

The ABA's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project conducted a review of how the death penalty operates in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Pennslyvania and Tennessee. They found several problems, including:

* Spotty collection and preservation of DNA evidence.

* Misidentification by eyewitnesses.

* False confessions from defendants.

* Racial disparities that make death sentences more likely when victims are white.

Stephen F. Hanlon, chairman of the group, said, "After carefully studying the way states across the spectrum handle executions, it has become crystal clear that the process is deeply flawed. The death penalty system is rife with irregularity."

The problem is not whether the death penalty is right or wrong. The problem is that our system of justice cannot guarantee fairness. This fundamental problem with fairness makes the rightness or wrongness of the death penalty a moot point. Even if the death penalty can be justified on moral grounds, that justification can only exist in a fair system.

Perhaps one day we can have the debate over whether the death penalty is right or wrong, but that day is a long way off. Right now, we must have a moratorium on the death penalty until we can guarantee the fairness of our system.

Without a fair system, we are sure to execute some innocent people. The execution of even one innocent person is an unforgivable and morally reprehensible act. It cannot be defended.