Time to commute

Steve Ford’s commentary “A penalty that’s lived too long” hit the mark. Our criminal justice system is not perfect, and a mistake in a death penalty case can have shockingly unjust results: the execution of an innocent person.

North Carolina has already exonerated four people from death row. No wonder juries in did not send anyone to death row this year.

We don’t know how many more of the people on death row are innocent. But we do know that Gov. Bev Perdue can commute their sentences to life without parole. This would prevent the state from making the irreversible and horrifying mistake of executing the innocent, while still keeping the public safe.

Candace Carraway, Durham