Hank Skinner

I believe that in the stay of execution, injustice was averted, at least for the time.  Based on the evidence presented in the media articles I have read, I cannot determine whether or not Skinner actually is guilty.  He does have the right to have all the DNA evidence tested, though, and even if it cannot exonerate him on its own, it can tell us if anyone else was there that night, which can provide reasonable doubt and the necessity to reexamine this case.  An execution is irreversible, and I find it irresponsible of the state to stand in the way of true justice just because they're afraid of setting "precedent" by allowing this man to defend himself in the legal system.

The "dueling websites" are very interesting.  Given the similarities of the url's (the only difference is really the .org and .com at the end), and the tone of the website against Skinner, I am led to believe that the pro-Skinner website came before the con-Skinner one.  I also think the con-Skinner website used such a similar url and layout in order to catch people trying to get to the pro-Skinner site (many people accidentally type .com instead of .org), and get them reading enough to convince them of Skinner's guilt (I would like to comment that this is a very low and cheap tactic that shows some sort of desperation).  The con-Skinner website also has an air of "we-know-better-so-listen-to-us", as demonstrated in their "the punk's rebuttal" section, where they "debunk" all of his defenses with a very high-minded tone.  Neither website, though, objectively reports the facts and in many cases the facts blatantly contradict each other between the two sites; as a result, I have no idea what the actual facts are, so it's impossible for me to make any judgment whatsoever.  Neither seems especially interested in justice, though, one just wants Skinner alive and the other wants him dead.

These sites seem more about sensationalism than actual reporting, but most of the media outside of these websites, regardless of position on the case, seem to be pushing for DNA testing of the evidence.  This suggests that the media at least does want actual justice, as even those who think Skinner is guilty support allowing him to defend himself with the DNA tests.