There is a fundamental difference: the living person could continue to lobby his case via extraordinary means (pardon, etc) or wait until there&#x27;s some meta-analysis of evidence or other event that frees him. Being killed means this never happens. Once the execution takes place, there&#x27;s no going back.<p>We&#x27;ve seen several of these cases of people in prison for years getting their lives back recently. We don&#x27;t hear about this happening to the executed, because we can&#x27;t give life back.