Free Essays on Innocent Lives Lost

before his execution were: â€Å"I am an innocent man. May God forgive everyone who said anything against me.† The next year, the victim’s husband confessed that he had murdered his own wife (Radelet, Bedau, Putnam 347). There are numerous amounts of incidents similar to the one depicted above that have repeatedly occurred throughout the course of history. Two highly distinguishable figures in the area of capital punishment in the United States, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet, discovered in 1992, at least 140 cases, since 1990, in which innocent persons were sentenced to death (Hook and Kahn 92). In Illinois alone, 12 death row inmates have been cleared and freed since 1987 (Execution Reconsidered). The most conclusive evidence in support of this â€Å"comes from the surprisingly large numbers of people whose convictions have been overturned and who have been freed from death† (Bedau 345). One out of every seven people sentenced to death row are innocent (Civiletti). That’s nearly 15% of death row inmates. The numbers are disturbing. Innocent people are becoming victims of the United States judicial system. A former president of the American Bar Association (ABA), John J. Curtin Jr., said it best when he told a congressional committee â€Å"Whatever you think about the death penalty, a system that will take life must first give justice. Execute justice, not people.† Though some of the innocent death row inmates have managed to escape their execution, there are numerous others who are unable to overturn their sentence through appeals. Many cases of innocence go unheard and result in the unfortunate fatality of an innocent. When the death penalty in 1972 was ruled unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia, the Justices expected that the â€Å"adoption of narrowly crafted sent... Free Essays on Innocent Lives Lost Free Essays on Innocent Lives Lost Mead Shumway of Nebraska was convicted of the first-degree murder of his employer’s wife on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death by a jury. His last words before his execution were: â€Å"I am an innocent man. May God forgive everyone who said anything against me.† The next year, the victim’s husband confessed that he had murdered his own wife (Radelet, Bedau, Putnam 347). There are numerous amounts of incidents similar to the one depicted above that have repeatedly occurred throughout the course of history. Two highly distinguishable figures in the area of capital punishment in the United States, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet, discovered in 1992, at least 140 cases, since 1990, in which innocent persons were sentenced to death (Hook and Kahn 92). In Illinois alone, 12 death row inmates have been cleared and freed since 1987 (Execution Reconsidered). The most conclusive evidence in support of this â€Å"comes from the surprisingly large numbers of people whose convictions have been overturned and who have been freed from death† (Bedau 345). One out of every seven people sentenced to death row are innocent (Civiletti). That’s nearly 15% of death row inmates. The numbers are disturbing. Innocent people are becoming victims of the United States judicial system. A former president of the American Bar Association (ABA), John J. Curtin Jr., said it best when he told a congressional committee â€Å"Whatever you think about the death penalty, a system that will take life must first give justice. Execute justice, not people.† Though some of the innocent death row inmates have managed to escape their execution, there are numerous others who are unable to overturn their sentence through appeals. Many cases of innocence go unheard and result in the unfortunate fatality of an innocent. When the death penalty in 1972 was ruled unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia, the Justices expected that the â€Å"adoption of narrowly crafted sent... Free Essays on Innocent Lives Lost Mead Shumway of Nebraska was convicted of the first-degree murder of his employer’s wife on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death by a jury. His last words before his execution were: â€Å"I am an innocent man. May God forgive everyone who said anything against me.† The next year, the victim’s husband confessed that he had murdered his own wife (Radelet, Bedau, Putnam 347). There are numerous amounts of incidents similar to the one depicted above that have repeatedly occurred throughout the course of history. Two highly distinguishable figures in the area of capital punishment in the United States, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet, discovered in 1992, at least 140 cases, since 1990, in which innocent persons were sentenced to death (Hook and Kahn 92). In Illinois alone, 12 death row inmates have been cleared and freed since 1987 (Execution Reconsidered). The most conclusive evidence in support of this â€Å"comes from the surprisingly large numbers of people whose convictions have been overturned and who have been freed from death† (Bedau 345). One out of every seven people sentenced to death row are innocent (Civiletti). That’s nearly 15% of death row inmates. The numbers are disturbing. Innocent people are becoming victims of the United States judicial system. A former president of the American Bar Association (ABA), John J. Curtin Jr., said it best when he told a congressional committee â€Å"Whatever you think about the death penalty, a system that will take life must first give justice. Execute justice, not people.† Though some of the innocent death row inmates have managed to escape their execution, there are numerous others who are unable to overturn their sentence through appeals. Many cases of innocence go unheard and result in the unfortunate fatality of an innocent. When the death penalty in 1972 was ruled unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia, the Justices expected that the â€Å"adoption of narrowly crafted sent...

Supreme Court Expands the Power of Eminent Domain

Supreme Court Expands the Power of Eminent Domain First Published: July 5, 2005 In its 5-4 decision in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important, if very controversial, interpretation of the governments power of eminent domain, or the power of the government to take land from property owners. The power of eminent domain is granted to governmental bodies federal, state and local by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, under the simple phrase, ...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. In simple terms, the government can take privately owned land, as long as the land will be used by the public and the owner is paid a fair price for the land, what the amendment calls, just compensation. Before Kelo v. City of New London, cities typically exercised their power of eminent domain to acquire property for facilities clearly intended for use by the public, like schools, freeways or bridges. While such eminent domain actions are often viewed as distasteful, they are generally accepted because of their overall benefit to the public. The case of Kelo v. City of New London, however, involved a new trend among cities to use eminent domain to acquire land for the redevelopment or revitalization of depressed areas. Basically, the use of eminent domain for economic, rather than public purposes. The city of New London, Connecticut developed a redevelopment plan city fathers hoped would create jobs and revive downtown areas by generating increased tax revenues. Property owner Kelo, even after an offer of just compensation, challenged the action, claiming that the citys plan for her land did not constitute public use under the Fifth Amendment. In its decision in favor of New London, the Supreme Court further established its tendency to interpret public use as the much broader term, public purpose. The Court further held that the use of eminent domain to promote economic development is constitutionally acceptable under the Fifth Amendment. Even after the Supreme Courts decision in Kelo, the vast majority of eminent domain actions will, as they historically have, involve land to be used for purely public uses. Typical Eminent Domain Process While the exact details of acquiring property by eminent domain vary from jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction, the process generally works like this: The property owner is notified by mail and will soon be visited by a government employee, often a right-of-way agent, who will further explain why the owners property is needed.The government will appoint an independent appraiser to evaluate the land and come up with fair price to pay the land owner for his or her land the just compensation.The property owner and the government may negotiate to come up with a final price to be paid the property owner. In some cases, a judge or a court-appointed arbitrator will be called in to oversee the negotiation.The owner is paid the agreed price and ownership of the property is transferred to the government.