High court justice: U.S. would be better off without death penalty
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens told a convention of lawyers and judges in Chicago, "I think this country would be much better off if we did not have capital punishment."
Stevens still thinks the death penalty is constitutional.
"But I really think it's a very unfortunate part of our judicial system and I would feel much, much better if more states would really consider whether they think the benefits outweigh the very serious potential injustice, because in these cases the emotions are very, very high on both sides and to have stakes as high as you do in these cases, there is the special potential for error," he said.
Stevens and fellow high court Justice Stephen Breyer spoke in a "fireside chat" to hundreds of lawyers and judges who practice in federal courts in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
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