It is precisely because of the frailty of human justice that I decided many years ago that I could not support the death penalty. I had the debate with some people in 1996 when I made an aborted run for Congress (OK, it wasn’t really a run. It was a press conference announcing a run. But no real running) as a member of the Taxpayers Party. At the time there had not been the wave of overturned verdicts that we have seen since. They argued that the chance of an innocent person being convicted and losing all appeals was slim. I think we are learning that the chances are not that slim at all.

Charles Chatman is 47 and finally free. I cannot imagine the horror of being incarcerated for 25 years and being innocent. I am glad that there are organizations like the Innocence Project. But what of the others? Police and prosecutors do a great job and I am hopeful that they will reign in their peers when they see something amiss in a prosecution.