"Spurred by the media spectacle associated with the execution of Ted
Bundy, Rehnquist said the present system of appeals for death
sentences invites unnecessary delays in executions. Speed to execute
is inappropriate whether motivated by zeal of the costs associated
with appeals.

A November, 1987, Stanford Law Review article documented 350 people
sentenced to death between 1900 and 1985 who were later found to be
innocent! People were wrongfully executed [23 of these innocent people
were executed, according to AI -HB] and in some instances the alleged
victim was later found to be alive. In 90 percent of the cases the
government finally admitted that the conviction was flawed. Such data
indicates that the real problem in capital cases is not delays and
excessive costs, but the inadequate provision of counsel, which often
permits such miscarriages of justice.

The rush to execution is not justified by an argument for deterrence,
punitive action or cost effectiveness. It is rooted in the inability
to recognize the actual sources of crime and social deviance. Among
industrial countries only South Africa condemns and executes more
people per capita than the United States.

It is time both to abolish the death penalty and to create a national
policy which addresses the sources of violent crime. Killing the
messenger will not silence the messages

Randolph N. Stone
Public Defender of Cook County
[Chicago Tribune, 2/20/89, p.10, letter to the editor]