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 | "Executing the mentally retarded is senseless cruelty. Even strong death penalty supporters recognize that capital punishment is wrong for people with the mind of a child." Jamie Fellner, Human rights Watch associate counsel, commenting on the scheduled execution by the state of Texas of Johnny Penry, a man with the mental age of a 1st grader; his IQ was between 50 and 63. |
Death penalty data:
| In the United States, about 13,000 people have been legally executed since colonial times. | ||||||||
| By the 1930's up to 150 people were executed yearly. 2 Lack of public support for capital punishment and various legal challenges reduced the execution rate to near zero by 1967. The U.S. Supreme Court banned the practice in 1972. | ||||||||
| In 1976, the Supreme Court authorized its resumption. 3 Each state could then decide whether or not to have the death penalty. As of the 2002-OCT, only the District of Columbia and 12 states do not have the death penalty. The states which have abolished executions are typically northern: Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. However, seven jurisdictions have the death penalty but have not performed any executions since 1976. They are also mostly northern: Connecticut, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota and the U.S. military. | ||||||||
| The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that whenever a sentencing jury has the ability to impose capital punishment, the jury must be informed in advance if the defendant would be eligible for parole. | ||||||||
| Almost all states have an automatic review of each conviction by their highest appellate court. | ||||||||
| There are a number of federal offenses that can lead to the death penalty. About 21 prisoners are housed in death row at the federal Terre Haute, IN facility. One was executed in 2001. This was the first federal execution in 36 years. | ||||||||
| Texas holds the record for the largest number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Virginia has executed a larger percentage of its population than any other state over 1 million in population. | ||||||||
| As of 2002-JAN-1: From 1976, when executions were resumed, until 2002-JUL-1, there have been 784 executions in the US. About 30 to 60 prisoners are currently killed annually, most by lethal injection. About two out of three executions (65.6%) are conducted in five states: Texas, Virginia, Missouri, Florida and Oklahoma. Texas leads the other states in number of killings (256 killings; 34% of the national total). There were about 3,690 prisoners sentenced to death in 37 state death rows, and 31 being held by the U.S. government and military. 4 About 1.5% are women. Recent laws have expanded the number of crimes for which capital punishment can be applied. Other legislation has reduced some of the appeal mechanisms available to those on death row. | ||||||||
| Public approval of the death penalty is currently about 70%. Public support is essentially the same in Canada, a country which abandoned capital punishment. | ||||||||
| The vast majority of those executed were poor. About 90% could not afford a lawyer when they went to trial. They had to rely upon a court-appointed lawyer. | ||||||||
| The homicide rate in those states with the death penalty is almost
double the rate in states without the death penalty. It is not known
whether this is due to:
| ||||||||
| Essentially all of the persons executed are male. since 1976 when executions resumed,
there have only been four women executed -- all in Southern states. These were:
| ||||||||
| Canada does not have a death penalty. In most cases, the most serious sentence
for murder is life imprisonment
with no possibility of parole for 25 years. However, if a person has a long
history of violent crime, then they can be declared a "dangerous
offender." With this classification they are given an indefinite
sentence with little chance of ever being released from prison. Public opinion polls show that over 70% of the adult population would like to see a return of hanging for first degree murder. This is almost identical to the level of support in the U.S. The Roman Catholic Church and liberal churches wish to continue the present status; conservative Protestant denominations are overwhelmingly in favor of a return to capital punishment. However, they do not appear to be aggressively promoting the death penalty. Their effort seems to be directed mainly at preventing same-sex couples from marrying, fighting abortion access, and maintaining as criminal acts soliciting for prostitution and marijuana use. The homicide rate in Canada has been gradually dropping since executions were stopped. This phenomenon has been observed in many other countries who have abandoned the death penalty. However, it has never been convincingly proven that there is a relationship between the decrease in homicides and the cessation of the death penalty. | ||||||||
| Relatively few other developed countries in the world impose the death penalty. Japan
and South Korea are
the only established democracies in the world, other than the U.S., which still
conduct
executions. The execution rate in Japan is a small fraction of that in the U.S. | ||||||||
| Some countries, such as Italy, routinely refuse to extradite accused murderers to the US because of the possibility that they might be executed. Canada originally refused to extradite suspected mass murderer Charles Ng to California for a trial. The government ruling was later overturned by Canada's Supreme Court. |
Methods used to execute people:
There are eight main methods of execution in current use worldwide: 2
| Beheading: Only two countries execute people by chopping their head off: Saudi Arabia and Iraq. |
| Electric chair: (US only) Nobody knows how quickly a person dies from the electric shock, or what they experience. The ACLU describes two cases where prisoners apparently lived for 4 to 10 minutes before finally expiring. |
| Firing squad: The prisoner is bound and shot through the heart by multiple marksmen. Death appears to be quick, assuming the killers don't miss. In the U.S., only Utah used this method. It was abandoned in favor of lethal injection on 2004-MAR-15, except for four convicted killers on death row who had previously chosen death by firing squad. 7 This is used in Belarus, China, Somolia, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and others. |
| Guillotine: A famous French invention, not used in North America. It severs the neck. Death comes very quickly. |
| Hanging: if properly conducted, this is a humane method. The neck is broken and death comes quickly. However, if the free-fall distance is inadequate, the prisoner ends up slowly being strangled to death. If it is too great, the rope will tear his/her head off. This method is used in Egypt, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore and others. |
| Lethal injection: Lethal drugs are injected into the prisoner while he lays strapped down to a table. Typically, sodium pentothal is injected to make the prisoner unconscious. Then pancuronium bromide is injected. It terminates breathing and paralyzes the individual Finally, potassium chloride is injected to stop the heart. If properly conducted, the prisoner fades quickly into unconsciousness. If the dosage of drugs is too low, the person may linger for many minutes, experiencing paralysis. Executions in the U.S. are gradually shifting to this method. This technique has been challenged recently by those who feel that the prisoner may not be rendered unconscious by the drugs. Some suggest that this method can be extremely painful. After a botched execution of Angel Nieves Diaz in Florida during 2006-DEC, Florida and nine other states have placed a hold on executions. This method is used in China, Guatemala, Philippines, Thailand, and the U.S. |
| Poison gas: Cyanide capsules are dropped into acid producing Hydrogen Cyanide, a deadly gas. This takes many minutes of agony before a person dies. |
| Stoning: The prisoner is often buried up to her or his neck and pelted with rocks until they eventually die. The rocks are chosen so that they are large enough to cause significant injury to the victim, but are not so large that a single rock will kill the prisoner. Used in North Afghanistan and Iran, as a penalty for murder, adultery, blasphemy, and other crimes. 13 |
Grounds for applying the death penalty:
In almost all states that perform executions, the death penalty is limited to cases involving aggravated murder.
However, there is a growing number of states that also allow the execution of convicted child molesters. As of early 2006, these included Florida, Louisiana and Montana. On 2006-JUN-09, Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma signed a bill into law that permits the death penalty for anyone convicted of a second or subsequent rape, forcible sodomy, lewd molestation or rape by instrumentation of a child under 14 years of age. The governor of South Carolina signed a similar bill on the previous day. 9
Fortunately, none of the adults who were convicted of multi-victim, multi-offender (MVMO) sexual crimes against children in day care centers, by sexual molestation rings, etc. during the 1980s and early 1990s were executed. It appears that all or almost all were based on implanted memories and did not actually happen.
Recent trends in the U.S.:
The country has experienced a significant swing in opinion against the death penalty in recent years.
Some reasons are:
| The continued opposition to the death penalty by some mainline faith groups, all or essentially all liberal faith groups, and the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. As in so many other matters, most of the Catholic church laity strongly disagrees with the Church leaders. |
| A sharp decrease in total crime rates in the past decade. |
| Increasing recognition that race plays a major role in murder convictions. |
| By 2005-APR, DNA testing has proven that 14 inmates awaiting execution on death row were innocent. |
| Some research has cast doubt on whether capital punishment acts as a deterrent to murder; other studies claim that a deterrent effect exists. 11 |
| A growing belief that many convicts have been executed for crimes they did not commit. |
| After a botched execution in Florida during 2006-DEC in which Angel Diaz took two injections and 34 minutes to die, Jeb Bush temporarily suspended future executions. Nine other states followed suit. 14 |
Some developments are:
| 1997: ABA calls for suspension: the American Bar Association called for a suspension of the death penalty, until new policies are implemented to make certain that "death penalty cases are administered fairly and impartially, in accordance with due process, and...minimize the risk that innocent persons may be executed." The Association is also opposed to the execution of mentally retarded individuals and child criminals. 6 |
| 2000-JAN: IL: Temporary moratorium: Recent DNA tests on inmates on Illinois' death row proved that 13 were innocent. Governor G.H. Ryan of Illinois announced a moratorium on executions in that state until after an administration review of the death penalty. |
| 2000-JUN: USA: Christian denominations take opposing views: The Southern Baptist Convention -- the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. -- reaffirmed its support for the death penalty; the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s General Assembly reaffirmed their opposition. |
| 2001-JAN: ACLU calls for suspension: The American Civil Liberties Union started to promote a moratorium on future executions. |
| 2001-JUL: CT: Execution of mentally retarded banned: The state no longer allows execution of mentally retarded persons. |
| 2001-AUG: NC: Execution of mentally retarded banned: The state no longer allows execution of mentally retarded persons. |
| 2002-MAR: NY: Voters prefer life without parole: Zogby International surveyed registered voters in Albany NY and the surrounding county. As expected, those polled preferred to retain capital punishment by a vote of 55% to 42%. But when asked about an alternative, 67% preferred sentencing convicted murderers to life imprisonment with no chance for parole vs. 27% who preferred the death penalty. |
| 2002-APR: NY: Judge ready to declare death penalty unconstitutional: Judge Jed Rakoff of the Manhattan Federal Court gave U.S. Justice Department lawyers a few weeks to argue whether retaining capital punishment "can constitutionally justify the knowing execution of innocent persons." |
| 2002-APR: AZ: 100th inmate on death row declared not guilty: DNA evidence proved that former postman Ray Krone did not kill an Arizona bartender. The evidence proved that a convicted sex offender was actually guilty. Krone is the 100th inmate to be declared not guilty in the U.S. since 1973. |
| 2002-MAY: MD: Temporary moratorium: Governor Parris Glendening declared an moratorium on the death penalty in his state. |
| 2002-MAY: USA: Legislative status: The Death Penalty Moratorium Act was introduced into the Senate. An Innocence Protection Act was introduced into both the House and Senate. Neither became law. |
| 2004-MAR-15: UT: Governor bans death by firing squad: Governor Olene Walker signed a bill into law that removes death by firing squad as an option that can be chosen by convicted murderers. Executions in the future will be by lethal injection. Four convicted murderers who have already selected the firing squad will have their wishes granted if they are eventually executed. 8 |
| 2006-JUN-09: OK: Governor widens role of death penalty: Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma signed a bill to allow the death penalty for repeat child molesters or aggravated molestation of children. Anyone convicted for a second time of rape, forcible sodomy, lewd molestation or rape by instrumentation of a child under 14 years of age is now eligible for execution. 9 More details |
The above information are summaries of the more important news items. More details are available.
A new concern: budgetary restrictions:
In a speech before the Maryland Senate in mid-2009-FEB, Governor Martin O'Malley argued that the death penalty in the state be eliminated to cut costs. He noted that capital homicide cases cost three times as much as homicide cases in which the death penalty is not sought. He said: "... we can't afford that when there are better and cheaper ways to reduce crime."
Lawmakers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire have made similar arguments in bills launched to repeal the death penalty. The New York Times noted that experts say such bills have a good chance of passing in Maryland, Montana and New Mexico. 16
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- D.W. Bercot, "Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up," Scroll Publishing, Tyler, TX, (1989) Pages 105-106.
- "The Death Penalty", Briefing report, American Civil Liberties Union, at: http://www.aclu.org/DeathPenalty/
- Gregg v. Georgia, 428 US 153 (1976).
- "Death Row U.S.A. - Summer 2002," Death Penalty Information
Center, at:
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ You need software to read
these files. It can be obtained free from:
- "Execution a no-win situation for Governor," The Guardian, 1997-DEC-20, http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/971220/world/world5.html (no longer online)
- "Recommendation as approved by the ABA House of Delegates February 3, 1997," American Bar Association, at: http://www.abanet.org/irr/rec107.html
- "Utah kills off death-row firing squads," Associated Press, Toronto Star, 2004-MAR-18. Page A22.
- "DEATH PENALTY: Catholic bishops leading new push for change," ReligionLink, 2005-NOV-07, at: http://www.religionlink.org/
- "Governor Brad Henry Signs Bill Allowing Death Penalty For Repeat Child Molesters," Associated Press, 2006-JUN-09, at: http://www.kotv.com/
- Tim Talley, "Okla. Governor Approves Executing Molesters," 2006-JUN, at: http://www.enidnews.com/
- Charles Montaldo, "Velma Barfield - The Death Row Granny," About.com, at: http://crime.about.com/
- "Monster (2003)," Movie Origins, at: http://www.chasingthefrog.com/
- "After the YouTube execution, what now for death penalty? ; From monster to martyr?" Independent-London, 2007-JAN-04, at: http://www.romingerlegal.com/
- "Executions halted in 2 states after botched injection." CNN.com, 2006-DEC-15, at: http://www.cnn.com/
- Brian Handwerk, "DNA Frees Death-Row Inmates, Brings Others to Justice."
National Geographic Channel, 2005-APR-08, at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ - Ian Urbina, "Citing cost, states in U.S. consider halting death penalty," The New York Times, 2009-FEB-25, at: http://pewforum.org/
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Copyright © 1995 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally published: 1995-JUN-8
Last updated 2009-FEB-27
Author: B. A. Robinson
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