Hope Rising in US for National Death Penalty Ban

Hope Rising in US for National Death Penalty Ban

 

By Agence France Presse

 

March 26, 2009, Agence France Presse via Common Dreams

 

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/26-3

 

WASHINGTON- Death penalty opponents in the

United States hope New Mexico's decision to ban capital

punishment is a turning point, as a crippling economic crisis

becomes their latest argument for abolition.

 

Last week Democratic Governor Bill Richardson made his

southwestern state the 15th in the nation to outlaw

executions, after state lawmakers voted for the move.

 

"Old Sparky", the decommissioned electric chair in which 361

prisoners were executed between 1924 and 1964, is seen at the

Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, Texas. Death penalty

opponents in the United States hope New Mexico's decision to

ban capital punishment is a turning point, as a crippling

economic crisis becomes their latest argument for abolition.

(AFP/File/Fanny Carrier)Richardson's "courageous and

enlightened decision should send a powerful message to other

states, governors and Americans about the need to take a hard

look at our error-prone, discriminatory and bankrupting

system of capital punishment," the American Civil Liberties

Union said after the bill became law.

 

The director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, John

Holdridge, highlighted the economic reasoning behind a ban,

citing "the exorbitant cost to the taxpayers of maintaining

the death penalty."

 

Supporters of the new law said that replacing the death

sentence with life in prison without parole will save the

state more than one million dollars each year.

 

Opponents maintain the death penalty is a deterrent to the

most heinous crimes. Despite the New Mexico decision, 35 of

the 50 US states still have capital punishment laws on their books.

 

Twenty prisoners have already been executed in 2009. The

southern state of Texas is the national record holder --

executing 12 this year, and in 2008 accounting for 18 out of

the 37 executions nationwide.

 

Richard Dieter, director of the anti-capital punishment group

Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), told AFP that last

week's decision is critical, and that "some states had to take a lead."

 

It is time for state legislators to begin reevaluating the

punishment, he said, adding that he thought "we'll see more

states doing that kind of review."

 

Economic reasons are key to prompting new reviews, he said.

 

The cost "is the issue of the day. (It is) getting these

legislators to give these bills a hearing and to give them a

vote... because any program that is offered and says we can

save money" is getting consideration, he said.

 

If a wave of states follow New Mexico's lead, supporters may

pursue a repeal of the Supreme Court's 1976 reinstatement of

the death penalty, citing the US Constitution's rebuke of

"cruel and unusual punishment" to argue for national abolition.

 

"In these economic times, government must consider its

limited resources, take a careful look at all of its programs

and policy choices, and retain only what works and works

well," said Diann Rust-Tierney, director of the National

Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty.

 

Death sentences can be up to 10 times more expensive than a

life prison sentence. In addition to a longer trial, the

extended appeals procedures the penalty entails can also take

a costly toll, with defending lawyers often paid by the state.

 

Legislative moves across the United States are being followed

closely by advocates of a ban.

 

An abolition law is being considered by state houses in

Montana, Colorado and Illinois and two-year moratoriums on

carrying out executions are under consideration in Missouri

and Nevada. Such a measure is already under way in Nebraska.

 

Legislative proposals have also been filed in Connecticut and

Texas and last week a proposal was filed with the US Congress

to ban executions at the federal level.

 

But the issue remains political fraught, despite legislative moves.

 

On Wednesday the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted

193-174 in favor of overturning the state's death penalty

statute. But the move faces further legislative hurdles and a

likely veto from Governor John Lynch.

 

"The next step is that the bill will go to the (state)

Senate," House spokesperson Cissy Taylor said, pointing to

previous attempts to change the law.

 

"In 2000 and again two years ago there were moves to repeal

the death penalty, but they failed, in 2000 it was vetoed by

then governor Jeanne Shaheen."

 

Today's governor Lynch looks set to do the same. "I believe

there are some crimes that are so heinous, the death penalty

is warranted. If legislation repealing the death penalty were

to reach my desk I would veto it," he said in a statement.

 

As political battles are played out in New Hampshire and

elsewhere, DPIC's Dieter warns against a rushed celebration

of the death penalty's demise.

 

"It's not going to happen all at once," he said.

 

Yet "as it's used rarely and the costs continue, the

frustration with the death penalty rises. I think we will see

more states saying it's just not worth keeping."

 

© 2009 AFP