On January 24, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold introduced a bill to abolish the federal death penalty. He did the same in 2003 and before that in 1999. While the bill is just as unlikely to pass this year, his remarks are well worth reading. Here's a portion.

Mr. President, today I introduce the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2005. This bill would abolish the death penalty at the Federal level. It would put an immediate halt to executions and forbid the imposition of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of Federal law.

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court, there have been almost 1,000 executions across the country, including three at the Federal level. At the same time, over 100 people on death row were later found innocent and released from death row. Exonerated inmates are not only removed from death row, but they are usually released from prison altogether. Apparently, these people never should have been convicted in the first place. While death penalty proponents claim that the death penalty is fair, efficient, and a deterrent, he fact remains that our criminal justice system has failed and has resulted in at least 117 very grave mistakes.