Nebraska Newspaper Calls for Abolition

Days after Nebraska's Supreme Court struck down its electrocution statute, the Lincoln Journal-Star published an editorial calling for the end of the death penalty there. The state was left without a means of carrying out executions--as the electric chair was its sole method.

The Journal-Star editorial asserts, "The time is ripe to abolish capital punishment in the state...Instead of rushing to pass a new means of capital punishment, the Legislature should take this opportunity to finally get rid of the death penalty."
Read the full editorial here.

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Nebraska Strikes Down Electrocution

The Nebraska Supreme Court declared electrocution unconstitutional on Friday, Feb. 8, striking down the electric chair in the only state that still used it as its sole method of execution.

In a 6-1 ruling, the Court said evidence shows that electrocution inflicts "intense pain and agonizing suffering" and that "(electrocution) has proven itself to be a dinosaur more befitting the laboratory of Baron Frankenstein than the death chamber" of state prisons.

Get more coverage on the InCASE blog, "End of Nebraska's Electric Chair." Also see New York Times Legal Columnist Adam Liptak's analysis here: "Electrocution is Banned in Last State to Rely on It."

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The Death Penalty in 2007

According to the 2007 annual report of the Death Penalty Information Center, 2007 had 42 executions - the lowest number in 13 years. This decrease is due in part to the de facto moratorium imposed while the Supreme Court considers a challenge to lethal injection procedures.

62% of executions in 2007 were in Texas, while 86% were in South states.

There were approximately 110 death sentences - the lowest number in 30 years.

2007 saw three exonerations, in Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Carolina, while eleven inmates had their sentences commuted.

Both New Jersey and New York ended their death penalties, with the New Jersey legislature passing an abolition bill just before Christmas.

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Supreme Court to Examine Child Rape and the Death Penalty

In early January, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Kennedy v. Louisiana, in which the justices will decide whether the Constitution allows death as a punishment for the rape of a child.

According to the New York Times, of the 3,300 inmates currently on death row across the U.S., only two face execution for crimes that did not involve a killing. Both men are in Louisiana. The Court will hear the appeal of Patrick Kennedy, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for the rape of his 8 year-old step-daughter.

No one in the U.S. has been executed for a crime other than murder since 1964.In 1977, the Supreme Court decided in Coker v. Georgia that "a sentence of death is grossly disproportionate and excessive punishment for the crime of rape and is therefore forbidden by the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment." But concluding that the "rape of a child under the age of 12 years of age is like no other crime," the Louisiana Supreme Court concluded that death was not disproportionate for Kennedy.

In an important amicus brief to the upcoming hearing of Kennedy's case before the Court in April, the National Association of Social Workers and a group of crisis centers argued that allowing the death penalty for rape will encourage offenders to kill their victims to prevent them from reporting the sexual assault.

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National Update: Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Nevada and Virginia stay executions

The past week has once again included numerous stayed and postponed executions across the nation. Georgia and Texas each stayed two, while Alabama, Nevada and Virginia each halted one execution--for a variety of reasons, the most frequent being the pending challenge to lethal injection.

Expand this post below to see a listing of the dates of each stay, with links to news articles relating the full stories.

10/24 - The scheduled execution of Daniel Siebert in Alabama was stayed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals: Execution of Ill Alabama Inmate Blocked (source: The Associated Press)

10/23 - Georgia stays two executions in four days: Top Court in Georgia Again Delays Execution (source: The New York Times)

10/18 - Two executions in Texas postponed: Two Executions Halted Over Challenges (source: The Associated Press)

10/18 - Virginia halts execution, raising more questions about national state of the death penalty: Supreme Court Halts Va. Inmate's Execution (source: The Washington Post)

10/17 - Nevada becomes the fifth state to stay an execution since Sept. 25: Court Stays Execution in Nevada (source: The New York Times)

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Lethal Injection: Recent developments

A number of developments have occurred in the last week, following the Sept. 26 decision of the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to lethal injection sometime this winter. Below, starting with the most recent, is a review of the big decisions and stays-of-execution:

Oct. 4: Oklahoma’s attorney general asked the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals not to set any execution dates until the United States Supreme Court ruled on a challenge to the lethal injection method.

Oct. 2: The Texas Court of Appeals stayed the execution of Heliberto Chi, pending the decision by the US Supreme Court on lethal injection. Some legal experts in Texas view the decision by Texas' highest appeals court and the issues it raised as an indefinite halting of all executions in the state, though Texas officials claim they plan to proceed. See the New York Times for more.

Sept. 28: The US Supreme Court granted a rare stay of execution to a Texas inmate, Carlton Turner, Jr., who had appealed to the Court due to the pending lethal injection hearing. According to the New York Times, "The decision suggests that until it issues a ruling on lethal injection, the court may be receptive to requests to delay such executions, at least for defendants whose cases raise no procedural issues."

Sept. 28: Another rare stay of an execution by Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who said the state would not execute inmate Tommy Arthur, while it came up with a new formula for lethal injection. State officials said they wanted to make sure prisoners were completely unconscious before they were killed--an issue that has been problematic in recent months and has temporarily halted executions in several states, including Florida.

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Judicial Update: Supreme Court to hear lethal injection challenge

On Sept. 26, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by two Kentucky death row inmates, who claim that lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is therefore unconstitutional under the 8th amendment.

Current challenges to lethal injection have effectively stopped executions in a growing number of states, including California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

37 of the 38 death penalty states all use lethal injection (except Nebraska, which still uses the electric chair).

According to the New York Times, "Lethal injection was adopted in the 1980s as a more palatable alternative to electrocution, but it has proven increasingly troublesome. Leading medical organizations have told their members not to participate, and lawyers for death-row inmates have produced evidence showing that in the absence of expert medical attention, there is a substantial risk of error in administering the combination of anesthesia and paralyzing drugs necessary to bring about a quick and painless death."

The Times also reports, "The Supreme Court case will be argued in January or February and decided by early next summer. While it is pending, judges around the country are certain to be asked to bar executions in those states that are not already under an official or de facto moratorium."

Read the Sept. 26 piece, "Justices to Enter the Debate Over Lethal Injection," for more and continue to check this site for updates.

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CT ASK: Fighting the Death Penalty Through Publication

The Chicago Tribune recently published an editorial which called for the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois. The state of Illinois has had a moratorium on the death penalty since Governor George Ryan implemented it in early 2000. This strong stance by the renowned publication is reflective of the larger shift in public opinion nationwide towards moratorium and abolition, the subject of an April 8th Chicago Tribune article.

Additionally, the Tribune has now set up an easily accessible archive of its articles on the death penalty dating back to 1997 which can be accessed at chicagotribune.com/deathpenalty.

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International Death Penalty Abolition Day

Today, March 1st, marks the anniversary of Michigan becoming the first US state and English-speaking territory worldwide to abolish the death penalty back in 1847. This action has its roots in the wrongful execution of a Detroit native based on circumstantial evidence in 1828. Seven years after his execution, his ex-roommate confessed to the crime on his death bed. This lead to the abolition of the death penalty in Michigan being the first act of the legislature upon Michigan becoming a state in 1847.

We hope that someday soon, we can celebrate the same accomplishment here in Indiana.

However, until then, we will honor this holiday by holding our committee meetings at the CSC beginning at 6:30. Click here for the posted committee schedule. We hope to see you there.

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Maryland Governor testifies against death penalty

Earlier today in Maryland, the newly sworn in Governor Martin O'Malley testified before a legislative panel that the death penalty was inhumane and ineffective. In a courageous move, Governor O'Malley is testifying on behalf of legislation that would repeal the death penalty in the state of Maryland; legislation that was not, as the Washington Post article notes, a part of his campaign platform.

This kind of brave political and moral leadership is just what the death penalty abolition movement requires. Just as former Governor Kernan recently called for a moratorium along with other members of the ABA assessment team, Governor O'Malley is speaking his mind on the issue, and quite articulately at that.

Hitting all the right notes, Governor O'Malley cites excessive cost, lack of deterrence, arbitrary sentencing and issues of innocence and wrongful conviction as well as moral reasons for his opposition. In addition, he astutely points out that the money wasted on capital cases could be used instead to better the lives of Maryland residents and aid law enforcement and social service agencies in preventing future crime.

We hope that the political voices that have recently become outspoken against the death penalty are simply the beginning of a larger trend indicating that citizens and politicians are fed up with the broken system of capital punishment. Hopefully this kind of political pioneering emboldens those who have had their doubts to speak up and call for a thorough examination of the death penalty and its role in society.

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State of the states

The downward trend of convictions and executions, coupled with recent investigations into the use of the death penalty on a state by state basis and ensuing moratoriums, makes it clear that the death penalty is on the way out. Tennessee's governor recently halted executions for a 30-day period (which has turned up such blatant and absurd examples of negligence such as portions of electrocution procedures incorrectly copied and pasted into the new lethal injection manual) following Florida's botched execution in December during which it took the inmate 30 minutes to die. The House of Representatives in both New Mexico and Colorado have furthered bills to abolish capital punishment outright and a similar repeal bill has made it out of committee in Nebraska.

I'll say it again, the death penalty is on the way out.

With such developments across the country, we can only hope that tomorrow's announcement of the ABA's recommendation to establish a moratorium here in Indiana takes hold. The national political and social climate is just right for this report to resonate all the way to the Governor and the legislature, resulting in the implementation of the recommended moratorium.

Ultimately, however, the report will not speak for itself. While it will contain painstakingly researched and interpreted data, it is up to us to take those facts and the report's recommendations straight to the top. We urge everyone to take the initiative to further this cause in whatever way they can. Whether it be a simple conversation with a friend about death penalty issues or a letter to the editor, any means of expanding knowledge about the death penalty's inherent flaws should be utilized until it is no longer an obtrusive stain on the fabric of our society.

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