May 28
USA:
Which State Will Be Next to Abolish the Death Penalty?
Nebraska became the 1st Republican-leaning state in 4 decades to abolish the
death penalty on Wednesday, the latest signal that momentum is on the side of
those who oppose capital punishment. And in the next few years, it's likely
that several more states will outlaw the practice.
Delaware may be the next in line. Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, has pledged to
sign a death penalty repeal bill that has already passed the Senate and is
currently in the majority Democratic House Judiciary Committee. That's only if
Montana or New Hampshire don't get there first; state lawmakers in Montana fell
1 vote short of passing a bill to abolish the death penalty in February,
reaching a 50-50 split on the bill after the Senate passed its own version.
Similarly, the New Hampshire Senate also reached a deadlocked repeal vote in
April 2014.
But there's a whole list of states that might yet follow in Nebraska's
footsteps. The 7 states that have now done away with capital punishment since
2007 all had 1 thing in common: they essentially had stopped using their
execution chambers altogether. And 6 states with death penalty laws still on
the books - Colorado, Kansas, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wyoming -
haven't executed anyone in more than a decade.
"When you look at most repeals, they were all in states in which the death
penalty had fallen into disuse," says Robert Dunham, executive director of the
Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death penalty group. "Nebraska
followed in the pattern of states in which the death penalty had been
functionally discarded in practice."
According to the Pew Research Center, 56% of Americans still support the death
penalty, but that number is at its lowest in four decades. Opposition is coming
not just from Democrats, who have historically opposed capital punishment, but
increasingly from Republicans who believe the death penalty is too costly and
does nothing to deter people from the most heinous of crimes.
In both Kansas and Wyoming - states which haven't executed anyone in years -
conservative lawmakers have introduced repeal legislation in both states, and
in South Dakota, another red-leaning state, several conservative legislators
have voiced support for doing away with capital punishment. Last year,
legislators in the South Dakota House were one vote shy of getting a bill to
the floor.
"The death penalty is no longer getting a pass," says Diann Rust-Tierney,
executive director for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"People may support the idea in the abstract, but when they see how it's done,
how it's doing nothing to enhance public safety, and when they see innocent
people being released from death row, they see that they can't square it with
their other values."
(source: TIME)
******************
Nebraska continues trend away from death penalty
Opponents of the death penalty continue to celebrate 1 day after Nebraska
abolished capital punishment.
After 2 tense hours of passionate speeches from lawmakers on both sides of the
argument Wednesday, the Nebraska Legislature voted 30-to-19 to override Gov.
Pete Ricketts' veto, banning the death penalty in the state.
Wednesday's vote ends a long battle between the Legislature and Ricketts, who
have gone back and forth on the issue for months. Ricketts, a firm proponent of
capital punishment, denounced the vote and insinuated several members of the
Legislature, including many Republicans who voted for the repeal, had lost
touch with the state's conservative majority.
"My words cannot express how appalled I am that we have lost a critical tool to
protect law enforcement and Nebraska families," Ricketts said in a statement.
"While the Legislature has lost touch with the citizens of Nebraska, I will
continue to stand with Nebraskans and law enforcement on this issue."
Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said
public opinion has trended largely toward abolishing the death penalty, citing
Pew Research studies that show public support for the death penalty has dropped
from 80 % in the 1980s to 56 % now.
"When you ask Americans the policy question, not just 'Do you support the death
penalty in the abstract?' but the policy question of 'What's the appropriate
punishment for murder: the death penalty or life without possibility of
parole?' a majority of Americans now say life without possibility of parole is
the appropriate punishment," Dunham said.
Dunham disagrees with Ricketts' assertion that all conservative Republicans
support the death penalty. He noted several lawmakers are changing their minds
on capital punishment because they are focusing on the cost and efficiency of
implementing the death penalty.
"What we've seen in the Nebraska debate, as one with a conservative
legislature, is a shift in focus from the dogmatic to the pragmatic," Dunham
said. "Conservatives are now looking at the death penalty as policy to see
whether it works, not as an ideological issue or whether it can be supported in
the abstract. When it's looked at pragmatically, as opposed to policy, they are
agreeing with other opponents of the death penalty that the system is broken
and it doesn't work. It is costly and it is ineffective."
Nebraska is the 1st predominantly Republican state to abolish the death penalty
since North Dakota in 1973. The Cornhusker State also is the 7th state in the
past 10 years and 19th state overall to repeal the death penalty. New York
(2007), New Jersey (2007), New Mexico (2009), Illinois (2011), Connecticut
(2012) and Maryland (2013) are the most recent states to abolish capital
punishment.
Even though capital punishment still is legal in 31 states, execution rates
have slowed greatly since new death penalty statutes were instituted for a
majority of states across the U.S. in the 1970s. According to the Death Penalty
Information Center, 7 states: - Nebraska, New Hampshire, Kansas, Wyoming,
Colorado, Oregon and Pennsylvania - have not executed anyone in more than a
decade. Arkansas could join that list soon - its last execution was in November
2005. 5 other states - Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, South Dakota and Washington -
have averaged less than one execution per decade over the past 50 years.
Michigan has not had the death penalty since 1847. It was the 1st state in the
nation to do away with capital punishment for all crimes except treason. Before
that, it conducted only 13 executions.
(source: WOOD TV news)
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