Author Archives: Ben Jones

Supporters and opponents of the death penalty agree on one point: It is regrettable when innocent people end up on death row or, even worse, executed. If through some combination of reforms — who knows what they would look like — we eliminated the risk of executing the innocent, would there be any compelling reason »

Debates about the death penalty often take place in the abstract: Is the state justified in depriving life from someone who has robbed it from someone else? Though these debates have their place, by themselves they prove woefully inadequate when making policy decisions. To justify the death penalty as public policy, one must be able »

As contenders for the presidency tailor their campaigns to address predominately middle-class concerns — health care, the economy, Iraq — they are giving short shrift to other issues that, though pressing, fail to capture the attention of their primary demographic. The rationale goes like this: If the core electorate — middle-class America — does not »

Earlier this month, the U.S. government announced that it would seek the death penalty sentencing for six men held at Guantanamo Bay, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. This decision, as well as the process leading up to it, has struck controversy for a number of reasons. First, the accused »