In wake of Marcellus Williams stay and inquiry, broader reflections on innocence and racial dynamics in capital punishment's administration
As reported in this post last week, just before Marcellus Williams was to be put to death for the 1998 murder of a former newspaper reporter, Missouri Gov Eric Greitens issued a stay of execution and appointed a Board of Inquiry to explore his claims of innocence. With that case obviously fresh in mind, this week has brought these two related commentaries:
-
From Brandon Garrett here in the Washington Post, "The problem of innocence in death penalty cases"
-
Stephen Cooper here in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Gov. Greitens: Pull down Missouri’s racist death penalty statutes"
Here, respectively, are the final paragraphs of each piece:
This will not be the first time that we have executed a man despite real doubts about the case. So long as we have the death penalty, it will not be the last.
Racist death penalty statutes must be the first to go. Exercising meaningful, impactful leadership, Gov. Greitens can and should, start with Missouri’s.
Comments
Post a Comment