Not to put too fine a point on it, but (IIRC) you are white. There are many, many
data that have consistently shown that the system in place today is very heavily
slanted against minorities. It starts with access to defense and includes the racial
makeup of a jury and many other things. You also mention that the state should be
very, very sure before putting someone away for life, but in that case there is almost
always a way to go back and right a wrong. Not so if that person is dead.
"I thought that the whole point of the legal system was to find people
guilty or innocent of a crime - if they're proven guilty, then they have
been judged to have done the crime - end of story"
Unfortunately, it's quite often _not_ the end of the story. Our legal system, while
most probably the best in the world in theory, still has some pretty tough issues.
Jury decisions are not always correct. Circumstantial evidence is often rather damning,
even if a judge instructs a jury to consider that. People on the jury are human, and can and do
make mistakes.
I used to be a pretty fervent supporter of the Death Penalty until we had to debate both sides for
a public speaking class. After researching the other side, I would say that I am no better than
undecided at this point.
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