USA - Executions Decrease For the 2nd Year - Va., Texas Show Sharp Drops Amid A National Trend

Executions are down sharply across the country for the 2nd 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 % from this time last year. With 14 more executions scheduled, this year's total could be down 1/3 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 2nd 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 6 more executions are scheduled. Virginia has executed 1 inmate this year -- compared with 8 last year and 14 in 1999 -- and 1 execution is scheduled. In fact, executions are down in 9 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 %, the lowest in 2 decades.

 21 people have been released from death row in the past 3 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 1st time in years. Last month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the execution of convicted carjacker Napoleon Beazley, the 5th such stay it has granted since October. And the Virginia Supreme Court overturned 2 death sentences in 7 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 3 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 4 cases while it decides whether it is unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded convicts.

 But this year marks the 1st time since the death penalty was restored in 1976 that executions have dropped significantly nationwide for 2 years in a row. And 5 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 4 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. 15 states passed laws this year making it easier for inmates to get post-conviction DNA testing, and 6 banned, for the 1st 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."