Until proven guilty

One big complaint of the death penalty -- besides the inhumanity of it -- is the possibility of executing people wrongfully convicted. What is scary is that some people are completely unmoved by that argument. Such as a couple Supreme Court justices. In June the Supremes ruled (5-4) that a prisoner does not have a constitutional right to demand DNA testing, even if the prisoner pays for it. Last month Scalia and Thomas dissented from an order for a new trial when most of the witnesses recanted their testimony. Scalia wrote:

This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is "actually" innocent.

Technically, Scalia is correct. The Constitution is indeed silent on the issue. But the monstrosity of that insensitivity is an abomination. He is saying I don't care if you did it or not. That a court found you guilty, no matter how flawed, means you deserve all contempt. There is something seriously wrong with this guy's basic humanity and he has a twisted sense of the fairness this nation is founded on.