That's the title of an editorial in today's Virginian-Pilot. LINK
Nearly a dozen years after participating in a murder, after IQ tests showed he was mentally retarded, after his case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and changed the nation’s death penalty practices, after his execution was set for 2005, Daryl Atkins finally got the sentence he deserved: mandatory life in prison.
A York-Poquoson circuit judge commuted Atkins’ death sentence, ruling last week that prosecutors had withheld evidence from a jury that might have kept Atkins off death row. The decision had nothing to do with the long-running debate over Atkins’ degree of mental impairment. It was about what’s fair and what isn’t.
And:
That’s the saving grace about a life sentence. It takes away a person’s freedom and keeps society safe while allowing for the possibility that somebody made a mistake in the finding of guilt or in the sentencing.
Mistakes happen. On Tuesday in Colorado, a man serving a life sentence for a 1987 murder walked out of prison after DNA tests pointed to another suspect. Defense lawyers and special prosecutors said crucial information was withheld from the man’s trial lawyers.
Such cases are popping up all over the country. Last year New Jersey replaced its death penalty with mandatory life in prison. Other states, including Florida, have executions on hold while the Supreme Court decides on lethal injections.
Humans make mistakes. The criminal justice system sometimes gets it wrong. Daryl Atkins’ case is one more reminder that our system is fallible. The only way to ensure that we don’t kill someone in error is to not kill at all.
Earlier coverage of Daryl Atkins' case is here. Coverage of the Colorado case of Tim Masters is here.
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