Richardson said the criminal justice system is "inherently defective" in its use of the death penalty, noting that four death-row inmates in New Mexico have been exonerated in the past 10 years.

"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," Richardson said in a statement Wednesday.

"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."

The bill replaces the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole

[From New Mexico governor repeals death penalty in state - CNN.com]

I'm glad Richardson didn't veto this bill. He made the correct choice. The bolded text above sums up my thoughts on a key methodological issue of the death penalty. One incorrect execution invalidates the system. While it is also a travesty if one person is locked up for any duration for a crime they didn't commit, at least a living person's can be cleared and compensated in the face of exculpatory evidence. Correction is impossible if the State has executed the person.

Whether the execution as punishment is defensible from an ethical stand point or if execution is an effective deterrent is another question entirely. Never mind the issue of whether certain groups of people actually receive fair trials within the justice system.