At the behest of Mass. Governor Mitt Romney, a panel of appointed experts have submitted a death penalty bill for the state. The proponents of the bill argue that under its provisions, the death penalty will be applied fairly and innocent persons are unlikely to be executed. Poppycock.

Nationwide, more than 100 death row inmates have been exonerated in recent years. Former Illinois governor George Ryan ® commuted 167 death sentences in January 2003, saying his state's system was "haunted by the demon of error." A University of Michigan study published last month said it was likely that thousands of wrongfully convicted people were incarcerated in the United States.

Joshua Rubenstein, northeast regional director for Amnesty International, which opposes capital punishment, said that the reforms proposed by Romney expose the shortcomings of existing death penalty laws and that those sentenced to long prison terms for murder or other crimes deserve the same high standards Romney seeks for capital cases. Even with higher standards in place, Rubenstein said, mistakes will continue, because even scientific evidence has been proven fallible. "The system is simply too flawed to fix," he said. "We are still relying on the vagaries of human nature, and there's nothing Governor Romney can do about that."

The Commission did not start from the proposition of asking whether the death penalty should be reinstated. It assumed it should:

The 11-member committee was not asked to make a recommendation about whether the penalty should be reinstated but rather to determine how best to administer it.

Massachussetts has not had a death penalty for 20 years. No one has been executed in the state in 57 years. Our view: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Romney will hold a press conference and release the Commission's report Monday.