death penalty

            
             "There are numerous problems with the death penalty," says Carl Villarreal in his piece titled An Eye for an Eye Doesn't Always Apply. Villarreal is not the only one that would agree with this quote. There are many different opinions in the world about the death penalty and it is one of the most controversial issues today. Within the fourth edition of America Now, by Robert Atwan, chapter fifteen addresses the death penalty. There are also other articles that are similar to the short readings within Atwan. .
             In chapter fifteen one of the stories, An Eye for an Eye Doesn't Always Apply, is also much related to an article titled In Defense of the Innocent, from Los Angeles Times. Both pieces discuss the Anthony Porter case from 1999. Both authors of these works are against the death penalty for the main reason of killing innocent people. Porter was only hours away from being executed when he was cleared. Porter had spent seventeen years in jail for a crime he never committed and was almost killed from a false sentence. There are also many other stories similar to Porter's of actually executing the innocent or coming very close to doing so. "Perhaps the most compelling reason to abolish this unfair, barbaric, and antiquated punishment is because it kills innocent people" (Villarreal 341). The piece from Los Angeles Times also talks about a bill protecting the innocence. "The proposed Innocence Protection Act, a bipartisan bill making its way through Congress, would help reserve death row for the guilty" ("Defense of Innocent" B-22).
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             Also, in chapter fifteen there is a story titled Should the State Kill?, by Ann Knudson. In beginning of this piece it talks about Sister Helen Prejean. There is an article that I found that talks about a book that she wrote that was made into a movie, Dead Man Walking. Sister Helen is against the death penalty and that is portrayed throughout her book.