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The Death Penalty
Reconsidered.
Executions Decrease For the 2nd Year
Va., Texas Show Sharp Drops Amid A National Trend
By Brooke A. Masters
Executions are down sharply across the country for the second year in a
row, with dramatic declines in the leading death penalty states of
Virginia and Texas, and if the trend continues, the United States would
execute the fewest inmates since 1996.
Nationally, 48 people have been put to death in 2001, down 27 percent
from this time last year. With 14 more executions scheduled, this year's
total could be down a third from the 1999 high of 98.
The declines reflect the decade-long reduction in the crime rate and a
public less enthusiastic about the death penalty. As discussion has grown
about the fairness and reliability of capital convictions, judges and
governors also have become more willing to stop executions and take a
second look at questionable cases.
By far the most striking change has come in Texas, which executed a
record 40 inmates last year. This year, 12 people have been put to death,
and six more executions are scheduled. Virginia has executed one inmate
this year -- compared with eight last year and 14 in 1999 -- and one
execution is scheduled. In fact, executions are down in nine of the 11
states that historically have put the most inmates to death.
Though execution numbers often fluctuate, observers on both sides of the
death penalty debate agree that the country may be on the cusp of changing
the way the ultimate punishment is meted out. A Washington Post-ABC News
poll found that public support for the death penalty is now at 63 percent,
the lowest in two decades.
Twenty-one people have been released from death row in the past three
years after DNA tests or other new evidence cast doubt on their
convictions, and Texas cases involving underpaid, sleeping and incompetent
lawyers gained widespread attention because of last year's presidential
election.
This year, 23 of the 38 states that have capital punishment enacted
reform measures. Congress is considering legislation, and Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor, a swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court, recently expressed
"serious doubts" about the way the death penalty is applied.
"There is a growing acknowledgment generally that the death penalty
should be reserved for the worst of the worst," said Oregon
prosecutor Joshua Marquis, a board member of the National District
Attorneys Association. "I think the degree of judicial scrutiny has
increased and the political pressure on governors for clemency has
increased . . . and juries and prosecutors are becoming more sophisticated
about whom to put on death row."
Reasons for the decline in executions vary from state to state, but some
broad similarities exist. The decade-long drop in crime and the mid-1990s
decision to abolish parole in a number of big death penalty states have
led to fewer people reaching death row and less public demand for
executions. Federal legislation enacted in 1996 sped up death row appeals,
leading to spikes in executions in 1998 and 1999 that couldn't be
sustained.
"You had waves of cases that had backed up, and now the flood has
gone through," said Jim Marcus, executive director of the Texas
Defender Service.
Courts and governors have played a vital role in the slowdown, as judges
and politicians who once turned a deaf ear to inmate complaints have
proved more willing to step in. Oklahoma Gov. Frank A. Keating (R) last
month granted an unheard-of second 30-day stay of execution to immigrant
Gerardo Valdez after personal pleas from Mexican President Vicente Fox.
In Virginia and Texas, the state courts have intervened in a significant
number of capital cases for the first time in years. Last month, the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the execution of convicted carjacker
Napoleon Beazley, the fifth such stay it has granted since October. And
the Virginia Supreme Court overturned two death sentences in seven weeks
this year.
"Increasing doubts about the reliability of verdicts have dampened
the enthusiasm of public officials for executing people quickly,"
said University of Virginia law professor George Rutherglen.
It is not unusual for a state to see a major drop in executions in a
single year, largely because of the way appeals courts operate.
When a court identifies a legal problem, judges often hold up similar
cases until the issue is resolved. That happened in Texas in 1996 -- when
three people were put to death -- and again this year. Several of the
recent Texas stays appear to be related to the case of Anthony Graves, who
argues that his state appeals lawyer was inadequate. Similarly, the
Georgia high court has stopped executions while it considers whether the
method the state uses -- electrocution -- violates the constitutional ban
on cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court is holding four
cases while it decides whether it is unconstitutional to execute mentally
retarded convicts.
But this year marks the first time since the death penalty was restored
in 1976 that executions have dropped significantly nationwide for two
years in a row. And five of the 10 states that have executed the most
people -- Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Arizona and Georgia -- have
not executed anyone in 2001. In Alabama, all four scheduled executions
were stopped by the state or federal courts. Maryland has not carried out
an execution since 1998.
There are clear exceptions to the trend. This year, Tennessee and the
federal government executed their first prisoners since the restoration of
the death penalty. And Oklahoma, Missouri, Delaware and North Carolina are
all executing more inmates this year than last.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said his state is moving
through its backlog of old cases a few years after most others -- the
state has carried out 26 of its 45 modern executions in the past 20 months.
"Most Oklahomans still support the death penalty and are gratified
that cases are not getting bogged down on appeal," he said.
Conversely, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said his state's
execution totals have remained relatively stable, so the state missed both
the late 1990s spike and the recent decline.
The growing concern about the death penalty has reached beyond execution
totals, as state legislators tackled death penalty issues ranging from
racial bias to bad lawyers. Fifteen states passed laws this year making it
easier for inmates to get post-conviction DNA testing, and six banned, for
the first time, executing retarded inmates.
The federal Innocence Protection Act, which would provide DNA testing
and set minimum standards for court-appointed defense lawyers, also
continues to make progress. The House version has 210 sponsors, close to a
majority. In the closely divided Senate, several moderate Republicans have
recently come out for the bill.
"The number of cases of inmates being taken off death row says to
the public that this system has faults and we've got to take greater steps
to ensure guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," said Sen. John W. Warner
of Virginia, one of two Republicans from a death penalty state to sign on.
(Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon is the other.)
The legislative ferment may lead to further reductions in executions as
courts struggle to apply new laws to old cases, said Dudley Sharp,
resource director for the crime victims group Justice for All. But he
predicts that eventually the execution tallies will rebound. "It's
naive to say that there's a new political reality," he said.
Others are not so
sure.
"Once you are talking about executions in practice, support for the
death penalty is broad but shallow," said Ohio State University law
professor Douglas A. Berman. "We don't feel comfortable about loving
the death penalty, so when there are reasons to go slow, all the
institutional players do."
 06/09/01
USA: PENA DI
MORTE; ESECUZIONI CAPITALI IN DIMINUZIONE
PER IL 2� ANNO DI
FILA SI REGISTRA CALO DELLE 'MORTI DI STATO'
WASHINGTON, - Le esecuzioni capitali
negli Stati Uniti
hanno subito una evidente diminuzione nel 2001, cosi' come
era gia' accaduto nell'anno precedente. Per la prima volta dal
1976 il numero dei condannati alla pena di morte ha continuato a
ridursi costantemente per due anni di seguito in tutto il paese. Il
'Washington Post', che ha riferito la notizia, ha
sottolineato che il calo piu' clamoroso si e' registrato nei due
Stati piu' favorevoli all'applicazione della pena capitale, il
Texas e la Virginia.
In Texas quest'anno sono state giustiziate 12 persone, mentre
altre sei
attendono il loro turno. Tuttavia si tratta di un vistoso
cambiamento rispetto all'anno scorso, quando vennero giustiziati 40
carcerati. La Virginia ha eseguito una sola condanna a morte
nel 2001 e ne ha in programma ancora un'altra, contro le otto
esecuzioni dell'anno scorso e le 14 del 1999.
Dei 38 stati nordamericani che applicano la pena di morte,
nove tra i piu' 'giustizialisti'
hanno assistito ad un calo radicale delle
condanne eseguite. Il totale delle esecuzioni di quest'anno negli
Usa, che e' attualmente di 48 piu' altre 14 previste e ancora
da eseguire, potrebbe essere inferiore di un terzo rispetto al
totale registrato nel 1999, che era di 98.
Il 'Washington Post' ha attribuito il sensibile calo delle
'morti di stato'
alla diminuzione del consenso popolare attorno alla pena
capitale. Secondo un sondaggio, infatti, il 63% degli americani e'
ancora favorevole, ma si tratta della percentuale piu' bassa
registrata negli ultimi 20 anni.
Dal 1999 ad oggi a 21 condannati a morte e' stata commutata
la pena grazie
agli esiti di test, come quello sul DNA, che hanno generato
dubbi sulla loro effettiva colpevolezza. E' anche per questo che 23
stati stanno procedendo alla riforma della pena capitale.
Joshua Marquis, membro dell'associazione
nazionale dei
procuratori distrettuali, ha riferito che '' e' ormai diffusa la
convinzione che la pena di morte debba essere comminata solo in
casi veramente gravi''.
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- 06/09/01
