Execution of an Innocent Man in Texas, USA

The unimaginable has happened and it could happen to anyone in the barbaric United States justice system where justice is a myth, Wild West attitudes remain, and the courts are used for political gain, instead of as a fact finder of the truth.

The argument for the death penalty has been that it "works" and that "no person has ever been executed who was later proven innocent."

Both arguments have now crashed and burned. The crime rate in the U.S. is as big as ever and the highest in jurisdictions, as in large Texas cities, where the death penalty is most abundantly utilized.

Texas in 2004 executed an innocent man for murder of his three children because they died in a fire that he was accused of setting. It has been discovered that the fire was not arson, when previous "arson experts" had used now discredited methods to prove arson, so it is expected that Texas will have to eventually acknowledge they convicted and executed an innocent man as a reward for losing his three children in an accidental fire. This is why the death penalty should be abolished. It is barbaric in a civilized world.

http://ow.ly/lr5F

This is a truly horrific example of execution of an innocent man. Imagine losing your three children in an accidental fire - the grief must have been unimaginably enormous, then being accused of killing them purposely and finally being executed. The harm, torture, and inhumanity, not just to this man, but to his family, neighbors, friends, and colleagues is beyond barbaric. It is immoral and cruel to the highest degree.

The problem is that Americans are self-centered and greedy. They think only of themselves. Money rules the world. Humanity has lost its way. Our justice system has eliminated rehabilitation as an option, so penalties as stiff as possible are the only thing that counts. The worth of a man does not count. Life does not count. Our warped system used for election retoric of being "tough on crime" has not worked and should not work. It is destructive to our values.

I am not optimistic that there will be change. I just don't see leaders like the late Sen. "Teddy" Kennedy among us. The late Sen. Edward Kennedy was one of the last of those who put others before themselves, despite his moral failings in his personal life. He always asked about others, instead of talking about himself. His focus was on improving the lot of others, especially the least among us. He was there without being asked, when Sen. Biden lost his wife and kids in a car accident, when Sen. Biden had a brain aneurysm, when Sen. Hatch's mother died. He was there for the widows, widowers, and families of 911 victims repeatedly. He was there on unpopular issues, such as civil rights for gay Americans and civil rights for blacks. He cared about the mentally challenged, the physically challenged, the wounded veteran, the recovering addict, the prisoner being released who needed guidance. 

It is time for all of us to not just talk, but to carry the torch of change out of the darkness of the barbaric, cruel, greedy world in which we live. A society should be judged by how they treat the least among them. "Forgive us our trespasses, for we forgive those who trespass among us."