US attorney general opposed to death penalty in US
US Attorney General Eric Holder says he is opposed to capital punishment because the execution of some innocent people by the country’s justice system is “inevitable.”
"There's always the possibility that mistakes will be made ... It's for that reason that I am opposed to the death penalty," Holder said on Tuesday.
“Our system of justice is the best in the world. It is comprised of men and women who do the best they can, get it right more often than not, substantially more right than wrong. But there's always the possibility that mistakes will be made,” he added.
In April last year, a flaw in the process of execution of an inmate in Oklahoma led to a tragedy.
Clayton Lockett, convicted of the shooting death of a 19-year-old woman, died in agony, 43 minutes after receiving the first part of a lethal cocktail used for the execution.
The case prompted the death row inmates in the state to file an appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the execution procedure.
The tragic event also caused Oklahoma to postpone the execution of a second inmate, Charles Warner, for nine months. Warner, however, was executed in mid-January, when the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote failed to halt it. Both death row inmates were African-American.
Holder also called on a moratorium on death penalty until the Supreme Court makes a decision about Lockett’s controversy. The case is scheduled to be heard in April.
"I think a moratorium until the Supreme Court makes that decision would be appropriate," he said.
President Barack Obama described the botched execution as “deeply troubling” and ordered a federal review of the state’s use of the death penalty.
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