That's the title of a Los Angeles Times editorial reflecting on the DPIC end-of-year report. It's subtitled, "Even though the majority still support capital punishment, the percentage in favor is declining in the U.S. It's about time." It appeared in the Saturday paper and leads continued news and commentary on report.
Back in September, much was made of the crowd's reaction at a GOP presidential debate after moderator Brian Williams noted that Texas Gov. Rick Perry had overseen more executions than any governor in modern times, and spectators burst into applause. Liberal pundits saw this as an example of the callousness of GOP voters, but we were more disturbed by the callousness on exhibit from Perry.
And:
We bring this up now, three months after the debate in question, because new data have emerged showing that despite a certain bloodthirsty element in some parts of the conservative base, support is steadily eroding for the ethical, legal and financial morass that is capital punishment. The Death Penalty Information Center's annual report on capital punishment in America, released Thursday, showed that executions continued to drop in 2011, to 43; that's down from 85 in 2000 and 46 last year. More significantly, the number of death sentences across the country fell dramatically this year, to 78 from 112 in 2010. And perhaps most significant of all, the percentage of Americans who say they support the death penalty, which was 80% in 1994, fell to 61%, the lowest ever.
In California, one number in particular stands out: There were only 10 people sentenced to death in the Golden State in 2011, compared with 29 last year. That may be a statistical anomaly, or it may indicate that prosecutors and courts are finally concluding, correctly, that death sentences have become largely pointless; legal complications have prevented anyone from being executed here since 2006. A continuing conflict over the state's method for lethal injection and a shortage of a key drug often used to perform it, mean this situation won't be resolved any time soon.
Yes, a majority of Americans still favor capital punishment. But the approval curve is heading in the right direction — downward — providing reason to hope that as our society evolves, the death penalty will die off.
The Houston Chronicle reports, "Capital punishment 'on the defensive'." It's written by Mike Tolson.
America's enthusiasm for capital punishment - once a staple of electoral politics and a perennial hot topic in discussions of the criminal justice system - continued its decade-long decline this year, according to the annual report of the Death Penalty Information Center.
The number of new death sentences imposed by juries in 2011 fell below 100 for the first time since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. Total executions dropped to 43, three-quarters of those in the South.
Just a decade ago, juries around the country returned more than 200 death sentences. But in 2011 the total reached only 80. Although the tabulations were made before year's end, capital murder trials rarely are held in the last two weeks of December.
"The bottom line is the death penalty is on the defensive," said Richard Dieter, director of the DPIC, an information clearing house that opposes capital punishment. "This year was a real strong drop. If it was only this year, that would be a fluke, but coupled with other years and measures, it reflects a real concern about the death penalty."
And:
Most states, including Texas, now allow juries to impose life-without-parole sentences. Experts agree that this sentencing option has had a big impact. For one thing, it potentially makes it easier for a jury to compromise in cases where some may be uncomfortable with imposing death. Of perhaps greater significance is the influence it has on prosecutors, who now have a palatable alternative.
Prosecutors in key jurisdictions such as Harris and Dallas counties who were unabashed fans of the death penalty have retired or are no longer in office. Those in charge now are more selective. Legendary Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes used to say he pursued death in any murder case where he believed a jury would return the sentence, which helped establish Houston's nationwide reputation as the "capital of capital punishment." Pat Lykos, the current DA, has said repeatedly that her office will seek death "where appropriate." Since she took office in 2009, the county has sent six defendants to death row.
The Saturday evening edition of NBC Nightly News carried Pete Williams' report, "Death penalty is dying out."
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"Decrease in U.S. Executions Points to Eventual Abolishment, Says W&L Law Professor," by Peter Jetton is at the Washington & Lee University website.
The steady downward trend in the use of the death penalty in the United States represents a "fairly irreversible decline" and suggests a time when the death penalty will be abolished, says David Bruck, a Washington and Lee University law professor.
Statistics released this week by the Death Penalty Information Center indicate that the number of executions in the U.S. has decreased by 75 percent since 1996 and is at its lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated in the United States in 1976.
Bruck, clinical professor of law at W&L and director of the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, cites several reasons for the decline.
States that still use the death penalty, he says, now provide an option for juries to sentence defendants to life imprisonment without parole. And, he adds, juries that do sentencing in capital cases must be told about that option.
"So juries understand that society is protected either way and the death penalty is generally not necessary as a way of protecting society against dangerous murderers," said Bruck.
Another reason for the decline, in Bruck's view, involves the number of people on death row who have been shown to be convicted in error, sometimes by use of DNA testing.
"Since the 1990s, the American public has received something of a shock about the fallibility of the criminal justice system," he said. "For a long time, it was thought that the only mistakes the system ever made was failing to convict or failing to imprison dangerous people.
Alabama's Birmingham News carries, "Use of death penalty drops, but not in Alabama," by Esther Brown of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty.
Nationwide, death sentences dropped to 78 in 2011. This is the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 that the courts have imposed fewer than 100 death sentences in a given year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center's Year End Report. Death sentences have declined about 75 percent since 1996, when 315 individuals were sentenced to death. Not in Alabama.
Executions were also down around the country, with 43 in 2011 and 46 in 2010, representing a 56 percent drop since 1999, when there were 98. But not in Alabama.
Even Texas experienced a 46 percent decline in executions over the past two years. The Lone Star State carried out 13 executions in 2011 and 24 in 2009. In the same period, Alabama's execution rate increased.
And:
Alabama should stop and listen. I am very tired of saying "and then there is Alabama."
The DPIC report, "The Death Penalty in 2011: Year End Report," is available in Adobe .pdf format. News coverage and commentary on the report begins at the link.
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