Excerpts From Governor's Speech on Commutations. The death penalty has been abolished in 12 states, and in none of these states has the homicide rate increased. [New York Times]
Illinois Governor George Ryan makes an eloquent and powerful argument for the elimination of capital punishment. He made the right decision today by commuting the death sentences to life in prison for all death row inmates in Illinois. We can only hope that more states will follow his lead.
I will repeat my position from a couple days ago. As long as one innocent person is executed, the death penalty is immoral. And given that humans are fallible and biased, there will always be innocent people sentenced to death.
If we truly believe in God, we will seek to become a society of redemption rather than vengeance, forgiveness rather than wrath. And we will leave the judgement of life and death to the only one who can truly make that decision, God himself.
8:50:44 PM 
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