But we do have the means at our disposal to minimize the possibility of error. And where lives are at stake, we have a responsibility to put those tools to use.
It was John Adams, Class of 1755, a graduate of this great University, who declared that it is better “that many guilty persons should escape unpunished than one innocent should suffer.” I hope that 200 years later we still share that noble sentiment. But we need not pay that price. For in sparing the innocent, we also minimize the possibility that the guilty go free.
The Innocence Protection Act will help ensure that fewer mistakes are made in capital cases—and that when mistakes are made, they are caught in time.
Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) represents the 10th district of Massachusetts.