This is one reason I'm not an advocate for the death penalty

Oh, there are many people who need to be gaoled for life, without ever having the possibility of parole. They need to be removed from society, and never interact with it again. Punishment? My idea of punishment requires Star Trek-level technology, where you record the relevant parts of the victim's experience and then force the perpetrator to relive it every day for the rest of his or her life, in full experience as if he or she was the victim. But we're not there yet. I think putting people on Death Row is expensive and does nothing to really punish, nor does it really bring closure. And of course, Death Row inmates are by definition not going to be rehabilitated, which is the stated reason some people use concerning prisons, those who prefer to not focus on the punishment factor.

Then there are those who may be innocent. There are cases of men (usually) and women who have been incarcerated for years, sometimes on Death Row, for crimes they did not commit. This appears to be one of those cases.

Fresh DNA evidence boosts defense in 1993 Arkansas slayings

Newly tested DNA evidence in the 1993 killings of three 8-year-old Cub Scouts in Arkansas has failed to link the crimes to the men convicted in the murders, including one on Death Row, advocates for the men said on Wednesday.

The DNA, including materials from the crime scene, instead matched three unidentified people, furthering supporters' claims that the so-called West Memphis Three are innocent, the advocates told Reuters.

This is one of the reasons I will probably never serve on a jury where the death penalty is on the table. I realise (and have told the court in the past, when I have been selected for jury duty), that I do not think I could sentence someone to death. Give me a throw-them-in-gaol-and-throw-away-the-key option, and I'm fine. Some people have to be put away for the safety of everyone else, either because they're deranged, or because they're just plain evil, and are not likely to rehabilitate. But for others, I think the punishment should fit the crime, that it can be a turning point in their lives from which they can choose a different path when they get out, and that there should be ways to integrate them back into society.

If these men are innocent, it would have meant that they were teenagers when arrested for a crime 18 years ago--meaning they've lost a great deal of their lives. If true, they should be freed and compensated, although nothing can replace nearly two decades of lost freedom. Also, I hope the DNA evidence helps find those who were responsible for the murders of these children. For more on the West Memphis Three, and the mess the case was, see the Wikipedia article.