Letters: Keep the death penalty
Re “Fatal injustice,” Opinion, June 1
Although James S. Liebman makes a strong point in his story regarding Carlos DeLuna, a likely innocent man who was executed in 1989, the answer is not to abolish the death penalty. The bigger problem is the abuse of the system by corrupt or lazy cops, politically ambitious district attorneys and incompetent defense lawyers.
If you want to make sure no innocent prisoner is put to death, make it a criminal act to cover up or withhold evidence. Once the cops and prosecutors realize that their actions (or inaction) will send them to jail and destroy their lives, they might be more prudent in making sure all the evidence is presented.
We need the death penalty, but we need our legal stewards do their utmost to make certain it is applied only to the guilty.
David Higgins
Los Angeles
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