The Solution to Capital Punishment
In my article Capital Punishment was Once Perfect, I pointed out that the Code of Hammurabi set the standard for future laws in dealing strictly with the evidence of a crime and setting a specific punishment for that crime.
The most evil crime came right at the beginning - that is, it was Law number 1: if a person accused another of murder and the accused was found to be innocent, then the accuser was killed (1). That happens to be the only application of the death penalty that I am in favor of and was also applied under ancient Jewish Law. The reason I support that punishment is that it is the only way the ancients had of keeping the accusers from fabricating evidence, from lying, from bearing false witness, and thus wrongly convicting an innocent man.
I believe we should apply that rule to our current system in all Capital cases. If a prosecutor brings a case to trial and opts to seek the death penalty instead of life-without-parole, and after conviction, if the accused is subsequently found to be innocent, then the prosecutor should be put to death.
There Finally Will Be Less Wrongly Executed
Before any reader complains that under such a system very few prosecutors will want to try cases seeking the death penalty unless the defendant is truly, genuinely, really guilty. Precisely - that's the idea. So what's to complain about? Isn't that what death penalty proponents already argue, that those found guilty of murder cannot be innocent, therefor there's nothing to worry about.
Presently there is little punishment against prosecutors for fabricating evidence, hiding exculpatory evidence, or other misconduct, all of which should be considered prosecutorial crimes.
I believe that for those who love the death penalty, this is a win-win. Presently there is no guarantee in a death penalty conviction that someone will be put to death - a reversal frees the man from pain of death. Under my suggestion, either the defendant dies, or under reversal, the prosecutor dies. Somebody's blood has to flow - you DP guys have to love it.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Live Science, Code of Hammurabi: Ancient Babylonian Laws
Burden on the accuser and judges
In the laws [of Hammurabi], it is clear that not only is there a burden on the accused but also on the accuser should they be unable to prove their case.
For instance, the penalty for homicide states that “if a man has made allegations against another man, and he has laid a charge of homicide against him but is unable to substantiate his guilt, the one who made the allegations against him shall be killed.”
