Natalie Ellis has spent the last few years fighting for justice. Along with other students at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Innocence Network, she’s dedicated her life to proving that Claude Simmons and Chris Scott are innocent of the murder of which they were convicted 12 years ago.

On Friday, her hard work paid off. Dallas County Judge Robert Burns offered the two men his “most sincere apologies for the injustice” they’d borne and gave them their lives back. For the first time in over a decade, Simmons and Scott walked out of the courtroom free men.

It was a rare happy moment from our criminal justice system; hopefully, it will also encourage the state of Texas to reconsider its use of the death penalty.

Although every precaution is taken to ensure that only the guilty go to prison, the sad truth is that innocent men and women are occasionally convicted of the most heinous crimes and stripped of their rights. In the best of cases, people like Natalie Ellis manage to belatedly right that miscarriage of justice and set them free. In many others, it’s impossible to definitively prove a convict’s innocence.

While great strides have been made in forensic science, there always remains a chance that the person convicted of a murder may not have committed it. As long as they are alive, groups like the Innocence Network can help prove their innocence. Once they’ve been killed, nothing can be done.

The death penalty destroys any chance that a convict can be proven innocent. It is an irrevocable act; once carried out, no exoneration is possible.

Life imprisonment is a better punishment for convicted killers because it leaves open the possibility of new evidence coming to light. If the convict is guilty of the crime, he will languish in a cell until his dying day, which is punishment enough. If, though, a mistake has been made, the chance remains to make things right.

Nathaniel French is a junior theater studies major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].