Eugene H. Methvin

About the author: Eugene H. Methvin is a Reader's Digest contributing editor based in Washington, D.C.

Fears about the possibility of executing innocent inmates are unfounded. No one has proven that any wrongful executions have occurred. Furthermore, technological advances such as DNA testing now enable investigators to present proof that exonerates the wrongly convicted; DNA evidence also allows law enforcement officials to close in on actual criminals more quickly. The numerous appeals that are typically granted to convicts also make it improbable that innocent people could be executed.

If there's been a change in the death-penalty winds, it's because capitalpunishment opponents have been fanning a national panic over the chance that we might be putting innocent people to death. The truth is, we've never been better positioned to ascertain guilt...