Progressive

State-supported execution—even for the most brutal murderers—is ethically wrong and can never be justified, contend the editors of the Progressive in the following viewpoint. Capital punishment is physically and psychologically cruel and is disproportionately administered to minorities and the poor, the authors point out. Moreover, innocent and wrongly convicted inmates might have already been executed. The death penalty should be abolished because it brutalizes society and denies the value of human life. The Progressive is a monthly journal of left-wing political opinion.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the authors, why did the U.S. Supreme Court agree to review Florida’s use of the electric chair"
2. According to Helen Prejean, quoted by the authors, what is torturous about the practice of capital punishment"
3. What flaws did Chicago Tribune reporters...