EXECUTING THE INNOCENT NOT ONLY REASON

DuPage County States Attorney Joe Birkett's recent two hour interview with journalists including critics of his handling of the Jeanine Nicarico case, just touched on one, albeit the greatest reason (executing innocent men) of the many reasons for doing away with the death penalty. Others including the enormous cost of committing state sponsored homicide, the execution of guilty men who were either mentally incompetent when they committed their crimes, or who are practically vegetables when the hangman comes calling, and the utter barbarity of capital punishment, apparently weren't discussed.

Birkett's interview was self serving. He champions to all the "certainty" we will never put an innocent man on death row while honing his tough on crime bonifides for future elections in a county and a state that still favor legalized murder. He knew Cruz and Hernandez weren't guilty and all he did was leave "the trial team, but didn't publically express his feelings until much later". Would he have come forward if their execution was imminent? I doubt it. Shame on him and all his fellow ferocious death penalty advocate politicians who run on that stance.