“Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution” by Professor Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier was recently published in the Tulsa Law Review. The article examines the potential impact that the confirmed execution of an innocent person would have on the U.S. death penalty debate. The author states that identifying those who have been wrongly convicted and later freed — as well as individuals who may have been innocent and executed — provides clear reason for lawmakers and the public to re-examine the death penalty, but he cautions that it does not alone spur people to abandon capital punishment altogether.
In his examination of historic and modern day cases where questions of innocence have been raised after an execution, Kirchmeier discusses how these cases have contributed to a series of important milestones in the discussion of the death penalty. He concludes, “[H]uman beings have been making reforms to avoid wrongful executions since at least the 1600s. Yet … we still make mistakes. After all, we are human.”
(J. Kirchmeier, “Dead Innocent: The Death Penalty Abolitionist Search for a Wrongful Execution,” 42 Tulsa Law Review 403 (2006)). See Law Reviews, Innocence, and Resources.
