Not so in the USA.

If I went on trial for murder, I might be better off in Italy than in the USA. Depends. Especially if I was guilty. Anyway, a 22-year-old American woman, Amanda Knox, was recently convicted of murder. In Italy. And some American observers think she was railroaded. That she wasn't given a fair trial. That is, not as "fair" as she would have received in the US. I don't know about that. A jury in Italy found her guilty. And she's been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Seems to me that a similar conviction in America would have resulted in a life sentence, or maybe even death. Yes, execution. In Italy, and other European countries, there's no capital punishment. Doesn't matter how heinous the crime. The state doesn't believe in executing people. Under any circumstances. In America, we execute 'em left and right and down the middle. But mostly poor people. People that can't even afford their own attorney. And even the mentally retarded. So yes, if I'm an Amanda Knox, and I'm guilty, I'd rather gamble on the Italian system of justice than the American way. As to which system is the most fair and most humane -- hard to say. But I know one thing. Italy has an automatic and elaborate appeal process. To make sure that wrongly convicted people have ample opportunities to make their case. And to right a wrong. And there's no chance of someone being wrongly executed in Italy. Not so in the USA. --Jim Broede