¨NEW VOICES: Police Officials Argue Death Penalty
Doesn´t Make Us Safer¨

• ¨Europe has abandoned the death penalty, but European countries have lower murder rates and higher rates of solving homicides than the United States. In the United States, states with the death penalty generally have higher murder rates than states without it. For example, southern states have the highest murder rates and account for 82 percent of all U.S. executions. The deterrence argument is weak and it goes against our experience investigating serious crimes: the majority of offenders do not think through the consequences of their actions. In fact, they do not think they will ever be caught.¨
  

• ¨If you execute a contract killer, for example, it would not deter a terrorist. If you execute a terrorist, it would not deter a young man who breaks into a house, gets startled, and shoots the owner."

• "U.S. politicianssometimes argue that the death penalty is needed to deter the killing of police officers. But if one of us were murdered, we would not want the perpetrator to receive the death penalty. The most important thing would be taking care of our families and helping them heal. We have seen how painful it is for families to go through years of death penalty trials and appeals and that would be the last thing we would want for our own families. The idea that the death penalty provides "closure" for victims' families is a myth."

• "Another myth is that only the guilty are executed. We can tell stories about times experienced officers were certain they had the right guy, only to find out later they were wrong. Even when police do their jobs professionally and in good faith, mistakes will be made and innocent people will be convicted. It is hard to imagine a greater tragedy. At least with life without parole, there is a chance to reopen cases if new evidence becomes available. Death is irreversible."

Death Penalty Hearing Testimony: Don't Put 'Blood on Our Hands'

• "”I don’t believe we have the right under any circumstances other than self-defense to take a life,” O’Leary said. “It is simply wrong.” The criminal justice system is not perfect and innocent people can be killed, he said. “It does not solve anything.”"

• “It is vindictive,” he said. And it is often racist because minorities are statistically more often accused of such crimes.

• Dr. Jeffrey Fetter, a former psychiatrist for the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, said having a death penalty cuts off hope for redemption, something that inmates need as they live.
  

THE LATEST: Georgia executes Scotty Morrow for 1994 murders of 2 women

• “Mr. Morrow’s acts of violence were aberrations in a life otherwise characterized by kindness and compassion, and the man he became in December of 1994 bears no resemblance to the man he was before and the man he has worked to be since,” his attorneys wrote in his clemency petition.
  

• Prison officials testified Morrow was a model inmate who sought redemption for his crimes. His son and namesake said he was a positive influence on his four grandchildren. Counselors told the parole board he had been fully rehabilitated.