Professor Samuel R. Gross (pictured) of the University of Michigan Law School has published an article in the Iowa Law Review examining the historical importance of a series of studies showing racial bias in the death penalty. The issue of race was brought to a head by the Supreme Court's consideration of McCleskey v. Kemp in 1987. McCleskey focused on a statistical examination of Georgia death sentences conducted by David Baldus. Though the study found compelling and statistically significant evidence of racial bias in sentencing, the Court held (5-4) this evidence insufficient to overturn Warren McCleskey's death sentence. Prof. Gross argues that, despite the Court's negative holding, the Justices were convinced that racial bias existed in the death penalty. "Even on the Supreme Court that sent Warren McCleskey to his death, even among the Justices who most strongly support the death penalty, nobody has tried to deny that racial 'sympathies and antipathies' decide who lives and who dies. No Justice said otherwise in McCleskey and none have denied it since." Gross concludes that Baldus' legacy was in "forc[ing] reluctant judges to face up to facts they would have preferred to ignore." Prof. Baldus of the University of Iowa died in 2011.
Dallas County (Texas) District Attorney Craig Watkins said he plans to advocate for a state law to allow death row inmates to appeal their conviction or sentence using studies showing that racial bias affected the process. Such laws have been passed in North Carolina and Kentucky and are referred to as a "Racial Justice Act." Watkins said, “Throughout history, race has unfortunately played a part, an ugly part, in our criminal justice system. This is an opportunity for us to address not only the past, and those individuals who are still being affected by the disparities in treatment, but also in looking forward to make sure that we don’t have those same disparities in our criminal justice system.” A 2008 study in Texas conducted by a University of Denver professor revealed that black defendants in Harris County, which includes Houston, were more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants. Watkins added, “I’m just of the opinion that if we’re going to seek it that it has to be fairly administrated. No matter where you come from, what you look like, it has to be fairly administrated.”
A new book by Professor Robert Bohm of the University of Central Florida examines the personal impact of capital punishment on those involved in the criminal justice system, beyond the victim and perpetrator of the crime. Bohm listened to those involved in all steps of the judicial process, including investigators, jurors, and the execution team. He has probed the effects of the death penalty on the families of both the murder victim and the offender. The book, Capital Punishment's Collateral Damage, includes testimonials from members of each group, "allowing the participants...to describe in their own words their role in the process and, especially, its effects on them." Bohm concludes that this "collateral damage is another good argument for rethinking the wisdom of the ultimate sanction."
Richard Viguerie has been called the "funding father of the conservative movement," and has helped start such initiatives as the Conservative Digest and the Moral Majority. He was recently interviewed in Sojourners Magazine, where he spoke about his faith-based opposition to capital punishment. He said the issue of innocence was a key problem: "I've become aware that throughout history, many innocent people have been convicted of crimes and executed. There are few things more horrendous than that, taking an innocent life by the power of government. The state is all-powerful in these matters, and it's a very terrifying thing. People do make mistakes." He urged conservatives to take leadership on challenging the death penalty: "I think that a lot of the leadership . . . will probably need to come from the conservatives. We need to make it acceptable to discuss this in the public square. Once conservatives provide that cover for this issue to be an acceptable issue to discuss, debate, and legislate on, I think things can move forward."
A new book, “Where Justice and Mercy Meet: Catholic Opposition to the Death Penalty,” offers a comprehensive discussion of Catholic teaching on capital punishment. It explores a wide range of issues related to the death penalty, including racism, mental illness, and economic disparities. The book is edited by Trudy Conway and David Matzko McCarthy, both professors at Mount St. Mary’s University, and Vicki Schieber--the mother of a murder victim. It includes a foreword by Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking. Joseph A. Fiorenza, Archbishop Emeritus of Galveston-Houston, said the book "is a treasure trove of information on the necessity and urgency to abolish an antiquated approach to capital crimes."
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe recently said he would sign legislation outlawing the death penalty if legislators were to send him such a bill. Beebe ran for governor as a supporter of capital punishment, but said the experience of signing a death warrant for the first time caused his thinking on the issue to change. “It is an agonizing process, whether you're for the death penalty or against the death penalty," the governor said. "Everybody can claim they're for it until you're actually the person who's got to sign it." Arkansas has not had an execution since 2005, and has only sentenced one new person to death in the last two years. In 2012, the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the state’s execution law after finding problems with how the lethal injection drugs used in executions were selected.
Robert Gleason is scheduled to be the first person executed in the U.S. in 2013 on the night of January 16 in Virginia. At his trial, he told the court he wanted the death penalty and has waived all his appeals since his conviction. He has chosen to be executed by electrocution. Gleason's lawyers maintain he is severely mentally ill and his mental capacity has deteriorated during his time on death row. He suffers from extreme paranoia, delusional thinking, severe anxiety and other mental afflictions. Attorney Jon Sheldon stated that Gleason’s "mental illness is causing him to be suicidal, and he is enlisting the government's help to end his life.” His life was described as "profoundly disturbed and traumatic," marked by abuse as a child, with depression and other mental health problems as an adult. Virginia had no executions and no death sentences in 2012.From DPIC
 LATEST NEWS (May 14): A bill to repeal Nebraska's death penalty was not able to overcome a filibuster vote and will not be voted on this year. The vote to end the filibuster was 28-21, but 33 votes were needed. This was the first time since 1979 that a majority of senators sided with those seeking to end the death penalty. (Journal Star). |
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Clustering of the Death Penalty A new section of DPIC's website demonstrates that capital punishment is actually carried out in only a small percentage of U.S. jurisdictions. For example, one map shows that less than 1% of counties in death penalty states accounted for 30% of the executions in the U.S. since 1976. Similarly, less than 1% of the counties were responsible for 27% of current death row inmates and 35% of recent death sentences. Click maps to enlarge
Click the above video to see the latest developments in the death penalty. |
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NEWS: (May 7). Mississippi Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for 
(May 2). Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland signed the bill repealing the death penalty for future offenses. The death penalty had been part of Maryland's law for over 300 years.