Missourians, like people the world over, want our justice system to be fair and accurate. That’s all the more true with the death penalty; no one should support wrongly-convicted people facing that irreversible sentence, yet that’s a haunting reality as officials plan to execute Leonard Raheem Taylor on Feb. 7. We urge Gov. Mike Parson to stay his execution and allow an investigation to consider compelling evidence of his possible wrongful conviction.
Taylor’s attorneys have formally appealed twice to the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Conviction Incident and Review Unit to initiate such an investigation that would consider new evidence showing he was out of state at the time of the murders. Prosecutorial and police misconduct also seem to have occurred. The prosecutor’s office has not yet responded to the review request.
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Let us know which John Darkow cartoon you would like as a reprint.
About the opinion page
The Missourian’s Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form.
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