Samuel Francis

About the author: Samuel Francis is a contributing editor of Chronicles, a monthly conservative journal.

Responding to claims that innocent prisoners might be sentenced to death and executed, conservatives as well as liberals have increasingly called for the suspension or the abolition of capital punishment. However, there is no proof that any innocent people have been executed in recent years. Furthermore, the argument that the state should not execute unless it can be certain that no innocents are put to death is dubious. There is no way to ensure absolute certainty in human reasoning. If perfect certainty were required in criminal justice matters, then even life imprisonment should be abolished because innocents might receive such sentences. The whims of politicians and activists...