Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney recently testified that the proposed “foolproof” death penalty statute he hopes will bring capital punishment back to the state does not eliminate the possibility that an innocent person could be executed. Romney acknowledged to members of the joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee that the proposed law cannot protect the state against the potential for human error, stating, “A 100 percent guarantee? I don’t think there’s such a thing in life. Except perhaps death - for all of us.”

Representative Michael A. Costellow, one of the lawmakers who questioned Romney during the hearing, said that the Governor’s admission “does knock out the initial premise” that the plan is foolproof, adding, “I think they put the best and the brightest together to try to come up with a foolproof policy, and it isn’t foolproof.”

Massachusetts is one of 12 states that does not have the death penalty. The last execution in the state was in 1947. (Boston Globe, July 14, 2005). Almost all of the testimony presented at the hearing opposed the governor’s bill. Romney’s response to many of the criticisms of the proposed law was that the threat of execution would at least lead to more plea bargains to life sentences. Some objected that it might also lead to innocent people pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty. Read testimony given by DPIC’s Executive Director, Richard Dieter, during the Massachusetts hearing. See also Innocence.