News articles from Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee examine execution dates and death warrants that may be signed soon.
The Tennessean reports, "TN may execute 4 death row inmates in the next year," written by Clay Carey.
Tennessee could execute four death row inmates in the next year.
If that happens, it would mark the first time the state has executed that many inmates in a single 12-month period in more than 50 years.
The state attorney general's office asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to set execution dates for Gaile Owens, Stephen Michael West and Billy Ray Irick. A request to execute Edward J. Harbison is expected soon.
All were convicted in the 1980s. For some of their victims' families, the delays have been excruciating.
"It's been awful to wait that long," said Kate Campbell of Andersonville, Tenn.
West was convicted in 1987 of murdering Campbell's sister-in-law and niece. The mother and daughter, ages 51 and 15, were stabbed to death.
"It was awful the way they had to die," said Campbell, 85. "I think everybody ought to be punished for what they do wrong.''
Some opponents of capital punishment and death penalty experts said the pace of executions in 2010 could well become the rule, not the exception.
"It's a definite possibility given the numbers we have on our death row and how long some of them have been there," said Stacy Rector, an ordained minister and executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
There are 89 inmates awaiting execution in Tennessee, making the state's death row the 10th largest in the country. Nearly 40 percent of Tennessee's death row inmates have been there at least 20 years.
In Mississippi, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger has, "3 more may face death this year." It's written by Jimmie E. Gates.
After two executions last week, 2010 could go down as the busiest year for the Mississippi death penalty since 1961 - evidence a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling is having impact on Mississippi's death row.
Three more death row inmates could run out of appeals this year, and the next execution could be as soon as July.
State Attorney General Jim Hood said it plainly Friday in the wake of back-to-back executions of Paul Everette Woodward, 62, on Wednesday and Gerald James Holland, 72, on Thursday.
"We can expect to see more executions," Hood said.
He cited changes made during the administration of President Clinton that allowed appeals to move faster through the court system. But it was the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in a Kentucky case, Baze v. Rees, upholding lethal injection procedures that paved the way for increased execution in several states.
Mississippi has not executed more than two in any year since 1961, when five inmates were put to death.
The Lexington Herald-Leader has, "Condemned killers seek delay from Ky. governor," by Associated Press Writer Brett Barrouquere.
A pair of condemned Kentucky inmates asked the governor Friday to delay setting their execution dates as defense attorneys prepare for death warrants to be signed.
Attorneys for Ralph Stevens Baze and Robert Carl Foley filed separate letters with Gov. Steve Beshear, saying multiple circumstances should prompt a delay in setting execution dates.
Beshear's office said the requests would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
"Attorneys representing the defendants and prosecution will each have the opportunity to provide the Governor information about collateral legal proceedings," the statement said.
Public defenders Dennis Burke and David Barron said Kentucky's current economic struggles, along with several pending legal issues, should halt any execution.
And:
Kentucky has executed three people since 1976. Harold McQueen was executed in the electric chair in 1997 for killing a convenience store clerk in 1981. Eddie Lee Harper was executed by lethal injection in 1999. Marco Allen Chapman was executed by lethal injection in November.
Earlier coverage from Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee at the links.
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