Editor: In response to the letter by Kenneth Nather published in Monday’s Herald regarding the delay of executions in the state of California, I offer that while elective surgeries are not something I would support having my tax dollars cover, I am willing to allow the use of those dollars to ensure that due process is carried out to the fullest.
The decision of ending a human life should carry with it the necessity that all appeals shall be considered, and that if justified by evidence or faulty prior process, those appeals granted.
As human beings, we are limited by our imperfection, and we humans have been mistaken in the past. Since humans run our criminal justice system, it is therefore inherently imperfect and subject to error. Further, the instances where pertinent evidence such as DNA test results, which would have irrefutably confirmed the innocence of the wrongly convicted, have not been allowed into evidence is staggering.
If saving tax dollars is a higher priority than ensuring we have not erred in the decision to end life, then perhaps our problem may not be on death row, but rather with the attitudes of our society.
Daniel Wells, Tracy