as during trial; as well as those who are simply overworked, underpaid and woefully unprepared to defend a person on trial for his life.Is the prospect of executing the innocent a real problem? Ask Anthony Porter, who was released in February 1999 at the request of the State’s Attorney after another man confessed to the crime for which Porter was sentenced to die. Porter came within two days of being executed. He is alive today not because the system worked but because of the efforts of the journalism students at Northwestern University who investigated his case.Regardless of our personal views on the death penalty, it is time to take a careful look at the practice. It’s time to follow the lead of Illinois, which places fairness above the passing fancy of politics. ...
