Issue quote: Bill Richardson, on Innocence - Statement, March 18, 2009
Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime. If the State is going to undertake this awesome responsibility, the system to impose this ultimate penalty must be perfect and can never be wrong. But the reality is the system is not perfect – far from it.
— New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, as he signed into law a bill to repeal the death penalty despite his previous support for the death penalty
