Surprising Sources Cite Concerns with Death Penalty

Opposition to the death penalty in the United States - or its application in specific circumstances - is getting support from some unlikely people. Increasingly, even longtime death penalty proponents are questioning the fairness of capital punishment in practice, with high-visibility cases like that of Georgia's Troy Davis (scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. Wednesday) drawing attention to flaws in the legal process.

Conservatives Opposing Troy Davis' Execution

At least two prominent conservatives who generally support the death penalty have spoken out in opposition to its application in the Davis case. Republican former FBI Director William Sessions wrote an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution saying there were too many questions about Davis' guilt for him to be put to death.

Republican former U.S. Attorney Bob Barr is a death penalty supporter who also strongly advocates for safeguards against its misuse. Barr wrote a "special to CNN" article taking the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole to task for denying Davis clemency. Barr said "Imposing a death sentence on the skimpiest of evidence does not serve the interest of justice."

The unexpected voices against the death penalty extend not only to individual cases like Davis' but to state capital punishment laws themselves.

California Legislative Initiative to Undo Death Penalty

Don Heller is an unlikely voice calling for repeal of California's death penalty. A conservative Republican from California, Heller drafted the 1978 ballot initiative that reinstated California's death penalty. Since then, he's rethought his position and is encouraging voters to undo the death penalty legislation.

"I made a terrible mistake 33 years ago," Heller wrote in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Daily News.

Heller believes at least one Californian was wrongfully executed since the death penalty was reinstated. When advocating for capital punishment, he did not consider that "horrific possibility," he said.

Heller encourages Californians to replace the death penalty with life in prison without possibility of parole.

Ohio Judicial Committee Examines Death Penalty Fairness

Ohio's Supreme Court chief justice and former prosecutor Maureen O'Connor convened a committee to review her state's death penalty application. With her tough-on-crime reputation, O'Connor is not advocating abandonment of capital punishment, but she is concerned with its fair administration, reports The Associated Press.

A 2007 American Bar Association committee report and a 2005 AP report both pointed out serious flaws in Ohio's death penalty administration. The AP report said killers of white victims substantially outnumbered killers of blacks in who gets sentenced to death. The ABA committee called for a moratorium on capital punishment after its two and a half year study revealed a wide range of flaws preventing this ultimate punishment from fair and accurate application.

One-Time Ohio Senator Reverses Position on Capital Punishment

Republican Justice Paul Pfeifer was a state senator when he helped create Ohio's code provision authorizing capital punishment. Now Pfeifer says he favors abolishing the law. Pfeifer contends prosecutors are using the law for circumstances its drafters never envisioned, like punishing perpetrators of domestic violence.