Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom
Last edited 11/2022
USA Today: Another Major Media Anti-Death Penalty Manifesto
To: Editorial Board, Editors, Columnists, crime reporters
USA Today and many others
RE: How bad is "Courts, states put death penalty on
life support", Richard Wolf and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY,
9/14/2015
From: Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom
CC: Ethics Committee & Board of Directors
Society of Professional Journalists
and
All Professors, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass
Communications
and many others
======
PREFACE
This article was, allegedly, a piece of investigative journalism, which may require months of research, with fact checking, vetting and critical thinking.
What happened?
If you like one sided news pieces, no thinking outside the anti-death penalty box and rare to zero fact checking/vetting, you have your perfect storm.
Anti-death penalty folks couldn't have bought this kind of support.
======
1) USA Today: "Of all the arguments against capital
punishment, none is as powerful as the risk of executing the innocent. Yet
research shows about 4% of prisoners sentenced to death are just
that."
REBUTTAL: Complete utter nonsense.
The 4% innocent is based upon a well known, erroneous
database, created by an anti-death penalty group, The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) which, depending upon various
reviews, is 71-83% in error with their "innocence" claims, which are based upon
redefining both "innocent" and "exonerated", as if they had redefined lie as
truth and, then, stuffed a bunch of cases into those fraudulent definitions
(1a&b).
This has been very well known, since 2000 (1). USAT "missed" it?
I am unaware of any reporter, who has reported on the death penalty, frequently, or who fact checks/vets responsibly, who is not aware of this.
The media is "all in" on this deception, with few exceptions. All you have to do is ask them.
The DPIC will tell you that their "exoneration" and "innocent" released from death row has nothing to do with actual innocence. Simple fact checking confirms this. Took me 5 minutes to, originally, confirm this.
There is no proof of an innocent executed in the US, at
least since 1915.
Since 1973, some 20,000 innocents have been murdered by those
known murderers that we have allowed to murder, again - recidivist murderers
(2).
Where are the innocents most at risk? Execution? Well no. How about when we allow murderers to live. USAT "missed" it?
Innocents are better protected, in three ways, by the
death penalty than by Life Without Parole (LWOP) (2).
USAT needs some sense of reality, proportion and
balance. Fact checking, vetting and research would help, as well. Journalism 101?
USAT "missed" it?
2) USA Today: "Prosecutors, judges and juries also are
being influenced by capital punishment's myriad afflictions: racial and ethnic
discrimination, geographic disparities -- "with half of (death
sentences) coming in just 2% of the nation's counties." -- (and) decades spent
on death row and glaring mistakes that have exonerated 155 prisoners in the last
42 years."
REBUTTAL to all USAT points:
A. GEOGRAPHIC DISPARITY:
There are 3144 counties (aka as parishes & others).
If we look at the 2% of the counties, with the highest number of death penalty convictions in death penalty states I suspect we will be in the ballpark of having a majority (51%) of the nation's capital murders, in death penalty states, - The most obvious, as detailed:
In 2002, the 75 largest counties had 51% of murders and non-negligent manslaughters, 61% of robberies and 36% of forcible rapes, nationally (3), which is in the ballpark of 60-70% of what we know as capital, death penalty eligible murders, with robbery/murders and rape/murders, police murders, multiple and serial murders, in death penalty eligible counties.
75 is nearly 2.4% of all counties, both death penalty eligible and not.
In other words, we should expect that 2% of US counties would account for 51% of the executions.
Yet, somehow, USAT "missed" the most obvious cause.
See judges, as well (3)
B. EXONERATION FRAUDS:
The "exoneration" claims have been a well- known
fraud, for at least 15 years, as anyone who fact checks is aware (see review in fn 1a&b). Depending upon review, from 26-46 death row inmates may have had solid
evidence of actual innocence -- 0.4% of those so sentenced -- and were, then,
released from death row, since 1976 (1b), possibly the most accurate sanction.
USAT "missed" it?
C. RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION
"White murderers are twice as likely to be executed as
are black murderers (4).
56% of those executed are white, 35% black (4).
From 1977-2012, white death row murderers have been executed at a rate 41% higher than are black death row murderers, 19.3% vs 13.7%, respectively. ( Table 12, Executions and other dispositions of inmates sentenced to death, by race and Hispanic origin, 1977–2012, Capital Punishment 2012, Bureau of Justice Statistics, last edited 11/3/14)
For the White–Black comparisons, the Black level is 12.7 times greater than the White level for homicide, 15.6 times greater for robbery, 6.7 times greater for rape, and 4.5 times greater for aggravated assault (4).
For the Hispanic- White comparison, the Hispanic level is 4.0 times greater than the White level for homicide, 3.8 times greater for robbery, 2.8 times greater for rape, and 2.3 times greater for aggravated assault (4).
For the Hispanic–Black comparison, the Black level is 3.1 times greater than the Hispanic level for homicide, 4.1 times greater for robbery, 2.4 times greater for rape, and 1.9 times greater for aggravated assault (4).
As robbery/murder and rape/murders are, by far, the most common death penalty eligible murder, the multiples will be even greater
Yep, USAT "missed" it.
Much more in fn 4.
D. CAPITAL PUNISHMENTS MYRIAD AFFLICTIONS
The "afflictions" are, often, little fact checking/vetting and a one-sided presentations, by the media, as demonstrated, throughout.
USAT did not miss it. It was a bullseye, as detailed, throughout.
3) USA Today: "The emotional and financial toll
of prosecuting a single capital case to its conclusion, along with the increased
availability of life without parole and continuing court challenges to execution
methods, have made the ultimate punishment more elusive than at any time since
its reinstatement in 1976" " . . . death sentences dropped from a high of 315 in
1996 to 73 last year."
"The number of executions peaked at 98 in 1999 and has dropped since then,
hitting a low of 35 last year. In the first eight months of this year, 20
prisoners have been killed — 16 of them in Texas and Missouri."
REBUTTAL: More elusive? True, but
not for the reasons given by USAT.
Obvious facts elude USAT.
A. FEWER CAPITAL MURDERS = FEWER DEATH SENTENCES
Any additional "elusiveness" of the death penalty is based upon the
reductions in murders and, even more so, on an even greater reduction in capital
murders, the obvious first option to check and something USAT never even
considered --
the most obvious was the most elusive . . . for USAT- fewer capital
murders equals fewer death sentences. USAT missed it? How?
The US has had double digit
executions, annually, from 1984 - 2014 (5 ) Murders are, now, at a 46 year low
(6). Murder rates are, now, at a 57 year low (6). It's not surprising that death
sentences are at a 41 year low (5) - "more elusive", of course.
In the US, from 1991-2013, there was 43% drop in murders (a 54%
drop in murder rates), a 25% drop in rapes (a 40% drop in rate) and a 50% drop
in robberies (a 60% drop in rate) (6). As rape/murders, robbery/murders are
the most common death penalty eligible crimes, those, likely, dropped from
60-80%, nationally, accounting for the vast majority of the drop in death
sentences.
Based upon new case law and state death penalty repeals, such
would, likely, account for about a 12% reduction in death sentences, bringing
the 315 down to 277 (8).
So what is the explanation for the
74% drop to 73 from 277?
With about a 60-80% drop in capital murders (murders/rapes/robberies 1994-2013) (6) plus additional reductions for other reasons, such as LWOP, up front
costs, as others, all contributing to prosecutorial frustration/discretion,
somehow USAT missed it . . .
as a rule all
caused or affected by . . .
B. JUDICIAL ROADBLOCKS
Judges are the case managers, at pr- trial, trial and on appeals -
they are in control of both time and costs, some with responsibility others with
complete abandon.
Because of judicial roadblocks and delays - judges decide on
timing and costs - prosecutors may just get fed up, choosing to avoid the death
penalty, seek a LWOP trial instead, or, better, a plea to LWOP, avoiding the
huge costs and countless delays imposed by many judges in death penalty cases,
at pretrial, in trial and within appeals.
USAT "missed" that such was Josh Marquis' point.
In states like California, Kansas and
Pennsylvania, judges are, very openly, killing the death penalty, as in New
Jersey and Connecticut.
For example, in the modern era, post
Gregg v Georgia (1976):
Virginia executed her first 111 murderers within 7.1 years, on average (9), has executed 72% of those sent to
death row and has an 11% overturning rate in appeals (7). Virginia's latest execution, 10/1/2015, occurred after 5 years of appeals.
Pennsylvania has executed only 3 of
the 417 sentenced to death, or 0.7%, and has a 45% overturning rate in appeals
(7), likely to become 90%, if the judges will allow appeals to end.
Why?
Pa judges will only allow executions
when the murderer "volunteers" and waives appeals, whereas Virginia judges are
responsible and respect the law. USAT missed it? Pa judges are obstructionists to the law, a common and obvious problem in many
jurisdictions.
". . . in California, appeals attorneys are not appointed (by judges) for three to five
years. (Those attorneys, then, allowed by judges) to take four years to learn the case and file their appeal. Attorneys
for habeas appeal (through the federal courts) are not appointed (by the judges), on average,
until eight to 10 years after the death sentence." Three Major Steps to Reduce Death Penalty Delay in California, Crime and
Consequences blog, Bill Otis, August 8, 2015, http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/death-penalty/
Judges have, intentionally, destroyed the California system. It could not be more obvious.
For many, the judicial problems are just too much.
USAT, completely, "missed" the judicial
component, which is huge. How?
C. WHY FEWER EXECUTIONS?
C.1. Fewer death sentences will equal fewer execution and . . .
Since 2006, executions have been affected by litigation related to
the lethal injection method, as well as drug shortages, within that method, resulting in a "slowdown" of executions averaging 43 per year (2007-2013)
(5).
It is very rare to have executions
over 60 per year, which has only occurred 7 times (1997-2013), or 18% of
execution years (5).
Excluding those exceptions, the average is 27 executions per year
(1977-1996, 2004-2013) and, if starting with double digit executions in 1984,
the average is 36 executions per year (5).
USAT's "slowdown" period has averaged 43 executions/year and could get
down to a 27-36 average, within the next 5 years, if the actual execution
problems are not corrected.
C.2. 128% INCREASE IN APPEALS TIME
Executions
are, undoubtedly, much fewer than they would otherwise be, because the time between
sentencing and executions has risen by 128%, from 6.6 years, the average time
from 1984-1988, when double digit executions began, to 15 years, the average
time from 2009-2013 (11).
This is the fault of the judges,
again (3), and is an intended killer of the death penalty, as virtually every
hearing on the death penalty attests and might be the greatest reducer of
executions, but was, completely "missed" by USAT.
In 1996, the US Congress passed the
Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), part of which was
supposed to quicken death penalty appeals.
Every year since then, the average
time of appeals, until execution, has been greater than in 1996 (10.4 years),
with the longest being 16 years, (2011) (11).
Now, in 2021, the average time of appeals, prior to execution was 20 years.
Apparently, judges didn't like the
AEDPA . The judicial move against the death penalty became even more
obvious.
That huge, obvious and well-known increase in appellate time could have caused the entire reduction.
USAT "missed" it? Of course.
C.3. EXECUTION METHOD
Until
jurisdictions change the method of execution, they will continue to have
problems, brought on by anti-death groups (17) pressuring those manufacturers to deny the best drugs for pain free executions to the US
(17), thereby applying more risk to the inmates and delaying, but not stopping,
any executions (17).
As Charles Lane of the Washington Post
observed: "What we have here is not a serious, effective protest, but an
exercise in feel-good politics that puts innocent people at risk."
(18).
-- NITROGEN GAS
It
appears the best replacement is nitrogen gas - it cannot be withheld, is easily
accessible, peaceful and euphoric, very easy to administer - just an oxygen mask
and a tank of gas, just turn the knob (17).
4) USA Today: "Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said
"From a defendant's perspective, to receive that sentence, and certainly to find
it implemented, is the equivalent of being struck by lightning." "The imposition
and implementation of the death penalty seems capricious, random, indeed
arbitrary,'' "The Eighth Amendment forbids punishments that are cruel and
unusual" "In the last two decades, the imposition and implementation of the
death penalty have increasingly become unusual."
"Just last month, Connecticut's Supreme Court struck down
the death penalty for prisoners already convicted of their crimes, going beyond
the legislature's prospective repeal."
A. Rebuttal to Breyer:
Here is Breyer's "equivalent":
The chances of being struck
by lightning in the US, within 11 years, is 1 in 63,636. The chances of being
executed in the US, within 11 years of a death sentence, is 1 in 6.
When is a 10,000 times difference
"Equivalent"? Breyer's ridiculous hyperbole. Possibly, he wants a job at USAT?
Least arbitrary and capricious
Of all criminal cases, the death penalty has 1) the
greatest restrictions on its application; 2) the greatest due process
protections in pre-trial, at trial, in appeals and 3) the greatest consideration
in executive clemency and commutations, meaning, of course, that the death
penalty must be . . . the least arbitrary and capricious of all criminal
sanctions.
Pretty obvious. USAT "missed" it?
The unusual nature of the death penalty is based
within it's extremely small application, the difficulties, costs and delays,
many, intentionally, caused by judges, to undermine the death penalty and a huge
reduction in capital murders over the last two decades, none of which Breyer
discussed as the cause for the "unusual".
Both Breyer and USAT "missed" it.
B. REBUTTAL to Ct Supreme Court:
Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers, one of three dissenters
wrote that "every step" of the majority's opinion was "fundamentally flawed."
"The majority's determination that the death penalty
is unconstitutional under our state's constitution is based on a house of cards,
falling under the slightest breath of scrutiny."
As it was.
All reflecting how poor the reasoning is with many of
the anti-death penalty justices.
USAT never even considered those points, as USAT only pushes the anti- death penalty message. Why is that?
USAT just "missed" all of that. Really?
5) USA TODAY: "In Colorado last month, jurors couldn't
agree on the death penalty for James Holmes, who (murdered) 12 . . ." "Their
indecision resulted in an automatic sentence of life without
parole."
Rebuttal: Indecision? Hardly. It was very decisive, by
any measure.
11 jurors (92%) voted for death and only 1 (8%) voted
for life (12) - a very decisive vote and also, by far, the most anti-democratic result within the US, with the vast minority ruling over the vast
majority.
USAT "missed" both.
Possibly, in respecting democratic principles, as opposed to undermining them, a
majority vote should rule the sentence.
6) USA Today: "A California study in 2008 found the
state spent $137 million annually to support the death penalty but would spend
only $11.5 million if it was repealed."
Rebuttal. Impossible and complete utter nonsense.
Did USAT fact check? Guess.
The $11.5 million means that
California would only be spending $15,000/yr/inmate.
Impossible.
The average
cost per inmate per year, in Ca, for 2007-2008, was $49,000/yr. (9).
With confirmed
California Corrections cost increases, that will, likely, be over
$65,000/inmate/yr, on average, today - not $15,000 (9).
This $49,000/inmate/yr is the average for all inmates,
not the level IV security of death row inmate like criminals that will cost
more, if not much more.
For higher security inmates, which, likely, would
include those transferred from death row, the costs range from $71,000 -
$172,000/inmate/yr. (9), not $15,000.
USAT, fact checking? "missed" it? Truly embarrassing . . . or "missed" it, on purpose?
7) USA Today: "A Colorado study in 2013 found that
death penalty cases took more than five years on average to complete, compared
to 1 1/2 years for cases involving life without parole."
Rebuttal: Of course, USAT didn't even consider how completely irresponsible Colorado
judges are. Let's look.
John Allen Muhammad , the DC sniper, was arrested on
October 24, 2002. His Virginia trial began on October 14, 2003, he was sentenced
to death on November 24, 2003 and was executed in Virginia on November 10,
2009.
From arrest to sentence was, exactly, 12 months. The
prosecution called more than 130 witnesses and introduced more than 400 pieces
of evidence. It was 6 years from sentencing to execution.
That's how incredibly wasteful Colorado and many other
state judges are.
Why didn't USAT use Virginia or Texas as examples,
instead of Colorado? Guess.
USAT wouldn't want to show that better management
meant a better death penalty.
Therefore, just show the worst. Not "missed".
Would it be appropriate, when reviewing USA Today's
journalistic record, to only look at her disasters - as this article - and, completely, avoid any
successes? Ask them.
8) USA Today: "The cross-country battle over lethal
injection methods has taken on added importance since last year, when inmates in
Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona gasped, moaned or writhed in pain during the
administration of a three-drug cocktail including the sedative midazolam. But
other protocols have come under attack as well."
Rebuttal: How misleading and/or a lack of fact checking/vetting is this?
There is, certainly, no evidence that the death row
inmates suffered any pain in the Arizona (13) or Ohio (14) executions. The
problem in Oklahoma was poor procedure, not the drug (15).
Arizona:
"No one who witnessed the execution has said Wood ever
woke up. It simply took a long time for him to die." (13)
"(Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles
Ryan) said IV lines in the inmate’s arms were “perfectly placed” and insisted
that Wood felt no pain. " (13)
He is correct , there could have been no pain, only
sedation, sleep, coma and death (with apnea, shortness of breath, wheezing,
other noises, etc. common.
“This doesn't actually sound like a botched execution.
This actually sounds like a typical scenario if you used that drug combination,”
said Karen Sibert, an anesthesiologist and associate professor at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center. Sibert was speaking on behalf of the California Society of
Anesthesiologists." (13)
Ohio:
"State prison records released Monday say McGuire told
guards that (McGuire's counsel, Robert) Lowe counseled him to make a show of his
death that would, perhaps, lead to abolition of the death penalty. But three
accounts from prison officials indicate McGuire refused to put on a display."
(14)
"Amy Borror, a spokeswoman for the public defender's
office, said all accounts from execution eyewitnesses - which did not include
Lowe - indicate McGuire was unconscious at the time he struggled to breathe."
(14)
"Medical experts would not comment on Mr. McGuire’s
execution or speculate about what he experienced. They agreed that used for
surgery, the two drugs would not cause pain. (14).
“By virtue of what they do, they cause unconsciousness,
and they inhibit pain,” said Dr. Howard Nearman, professor of anesthesiology at
Case Western Reserve University (14).
As there was no surgery, both drugs were given at
overdose levels and both drugs would enhance the effects of the other, of course
there was no pain.
Do folks wheeze, snore, move or cough etc. while
sleeping? Do those with opiate overdoses wheeze, snore, move, cough, have
spasms, etc.? Of course, which is all that happened with McGuire, as some
predicted.
The Associate Press witness:
"McGuire was still for almost five minutes, then emitted
a loud snort, as if snoring, and continued to make that sound over the next
several minutes. He also soundlessly opened and shut his mouth several times as
his stomach rose and fell." "A coughing sound was Dennis McGuire’s last apparent
movement, at 10:43 a.m. He was pronounced dead 10 minutes later."
USAT "missed" all of that. Really?
Either USAT doesn't
fact check nor vet and/or they only want you to see the anti-death penalty side of the story, even if it is
false or misleading . . .
too obvious?
9) USA Today: "Today, there is a similar consensus
(against the death penalty): Two-thirds of the states have held no executions
since 2010. And the percentage of Americans who favor capital punishment is down
from 78% two decades ago to 56% today, according to the Pew Research
Center."
Rebuttal: USAT has zero factual basis for finding a "consensus" against the death penalty, when USAT quotes 56% (or 86%) death penalty
support and because some judges, some governors, some attorney generals and/or
some legislators are blocking executions and/or are, otherwise, prolonging
appeals, which is against the consensus, as USAT somehow "missed".
Polling: Pew shows 56% support, a majority. But, let's
not have our pro death penalty consensus be based upon, only, those polls which
the media wishes us to see, as they "miss" a lot.
For example, a 2013 poll by Angus-Reid (AR) found 86%
death penalty support, nationally (16). All media outlets decided not to carry
that poll, even though AR has an excellent polling record, inclusive of being
the most accurate in the 2008 presidential election (16).
Why was the support so high? Because AR has a
"sometimes" support the death penalty answer, exactly the fashion in which we
apply the death penalty, rarely and sometimes, making it the most accurate barometer of death penalty support. The other two choices are "always" and "never", making "sometimes" the perfect response, reflecting the US death penalty system.
"similar consensus" - really USAT? We know, USAT "missed" it.
10) USA Today: "Rep. Renny Cushing is an unlikely
proponent of abolition. His father and brother-in-law were murdered in separate
incidents, 23 years and a thousand miles apart. Still, he says death sentences
just divert attention from where it's most needed." "It makes rock stars out of killers. It allows us in many ways to
ignore or not tend to the needs of individual victims' survivors."
REBUTTAL: USAT is, completely, clueless to Cushing's
hypocrisy . . . or they avoided it.
Neither of the Cushing family murderers were death
penalty eligible. His father's murder resulted in the maximum sentence, yet
Cushing works against all other victim survivors who want the maximum sentence, the death penalty, in
their, actual, death penalty cases.
Cushing is a leader in turning victim against victim and
working against the desires of other victim survivors, if they find justice is best served by a death sentence (19).
Why can't Cushing and others, simply, leave the death penalty alone,
tell other victim survivors they respect their right to seek the death penalty in
their case? Because they value making sure that all murderers live, above the
wishes of other murder victim survivors (19).
Wanting all murderers to live, no matter the cost, is a defining anti-death penalty characteristic (2).
USAT "missed", all, of it.
11) USA TODAY: "A new study by the anti-death penalty group
Reprieve Australia showed that prosecutors in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, struck
would-be black jurors 46% of the time, compared to 15% for
others."
REBUTTAL: As Reprieve is an anti-death penalty group, USAT
blindly accepted their results, as appears standard for USAT. If blacks in Caddo Parish opposed the
death penalty at a rate three times that of other groups, the would-be black
juror striking rate would be expected and predictable, as in North Carolina, for example (20).
But we don't know, because that wouldn't matter, as USAT's
concern was furthering the anti-death penalty message.
Why would USAT look at death penalty support/rejection by race/ethnicity and how that relates to striking rates by race/ethnicity in death penalty cases, for jury selection, when that is the only thing that matters, in this context?
USAT wouldn't, of course. Why look at the obvious, when "missing" it is the norm?
12) USA Today: "Glossip's (innocence)
contention has won support from the likes of British business executive Richard
Branson, actress Susan Sarandon and TV's "Dr. Phil" McGraw. More than 250,000
online petitions seeking a 60-day reprieve were delivered to Gov. Mary Fallin
this month. On Friday, former U.S. senator Tom Coburn and former University of
Oklahoma head football coach Barry Switzer added their names."
REBUTTAL: Some media just become like melted butter
before celebrities. Just so much oohs and ahhs.
The Glossip case sure is looking a lot like the Troy
Davis fiasco (20):
"The Troy Davis campaign, like many before it, is a
simple, blatant fraud, easily uncovered by the most basic of fact checking."
"The case for Davis' guilt is overwhelming, just as
were his due process protections, which may have surpassed that of all but a few
death row inmates." (21)
Some media, like USAT, feel it more important to look at the opinions of anti-death penalty celebrities, as opposed to reviewing the appellate
record and the judicial decisions.
Hey, it's a serious topic!
Is Glossip innocent or guilty? USAT doesn't help, much, only giving us celebrities.
And, somehow, USAT "missed" this:
“This (Glossip PR) is a bull**** public relations
campaign,” District Attorney David Prater told reporters,"that’s all it is, to abolish the death penalty in this state and
throughout the country. Otherwise, they'd be acting like lawyers and be filing
paperwork and taking paperwork and evidence to the prosecutor and the governor’s
office.”
"Our position has always been that they need to take any
evidence to a court,” said Alex Weintz, spokesman for Fallin. “It is not about
petition drives and celebrity endorsements.”
Heck if its not, ask USAT.
UPDATE: As of 12/2/2022, all of Glossip's appeals have failed.
13) USA Today: Murdered Sheriff Sgt. Michael Naylor's widow, Denise Davis didn't wish to go through either death penalty trial or
appeals for her husband's murderer.
USAT "missed" the pro-death penalty point, of
course.
Only because of the death penalty was a plea, to a
sentence of life without parole (LWOP), possible.
Without the death penalty, only a plea to life with
parole would have been possible, a plea that would not have been accepted,
requiring a LWOP or death penalty trial, with appeals, if found guilty.
The death penalty, sparing a little anguish and a lot of
time and money, by allowing for a LWOP plea . . .
USAT, of course, "missed" it?
14) USA Today: "Seven states have repealed the death
penalty since 2007. Among the 31 that retain it, governors have imposed a
moratorium in four, and most others haven't executed anyone in years. Only seven
states carried out executions in the past two years."
REBUTTAL - Important facts: Since 2007, 12 states have
ended executions and/or the death penalty.
5 have repealed the death penalty, by law, by a majority
Democratic legislature, with a Democratic Governor, signing the repeal. 2 of
those 5 (NJ and IL) did so in a lame duck session.
5 states have stopped executions, all by Democratic Governor
fiat, inclusive of California, whose governor, attorney general and corrections dept.
did nothing for 7 years, about a federal and, later, state court ruling
against their lethal injection protocol, when numerous states had solid
protocols, approved by federal courts, which Ca could have presented to the
federal judge, within hours of the rulings, 7-9 years, ago.
One "conservative" (22) legislature Nebraska, repealed the
death penalty, overcoming the Republican governor's veto. A long time Democratic, anti- death penalty activist, Sen. Ernie Chambers, who compares US police to ISIS, was the, undisputed, leader on the anti-death penalty side, as he has been for decades.
The Nebraska repeal has been stopped by a conservative led pro death penalty referendum campaign and will not be entered into law. A popular vote is required on the issue in 2016.
Update: That popular vote, the consensus, occurred on November 8, 2016, which retained the death penalty in Nebraska (61%-39%), as additional death penalty votes in California and Oklahoma strengthened death penalty application.
As in all other state death penalty repeals, the majority of the population, the consensus, supported the death penalty, by a wide margin.
Anti-death penalty forces did all they could to stop citizens from voting on the issue.
I am unaware of any US popular vote against the death penalty.
A New York state appellate court found their statute to
be unconstitutional.
Looks like the Democratic Party is driving this bus -
USAT "missed" it. How?
In all 12 instances, the majority in those states,
supported/support the death penalty. Even, the majority populations in Western Europe
supported the execution of Saddam Hussein, a "sometimes" example in polling (16).
Sometimes the voice of the people matters. Sometimes
not. USAT "missed" it?
15) USA TODAY: "Even in Texas . . .
the death penalty is on the ropes. The state sentenced 48 people to death as
recently as 1999. So far this year? Not a single one."
REBUTTAL - More detail: Keep in mind that capital
murders may have dropped by 80% in Texas from 1991 - 2013, Murders have dropped
57%, rapes 19% and robberies 36% (6), A much lower occurrence of rape/murders and
robbery/murders, the dominant death penalty eligible murders, equals a much
lower number of death sentences. Murders "rates" have dropped 71%, rapes 47% and
robberies 58% (6).
I agree, zero death sentences, so far, in 2015, is
remarkable.
Hope capital murders, as all violent crimes, keep
dropping.
In closing
"Investigative" journalism . . . there you have it.
71-83% Error Rate in Death Row "Innocent" Claims,
Well Known Since 2000
2) Updated Ibid See 18-23
The Death Penalty/Executions: Saving More Innocents in FN 1b
3) Highlights, page 1, State Court Processing Statistics, 1990-2002, Violent Felons in Large Urban Counties, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, July 2006, NCJ 205289, http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/vfluc.txt and
and
Capital Punishment, 2012, Bureau of Justice Statistics, last edited 11/3/14, Table 17, Number sentenced to death and number of removals, by jurisdiction and reason for removal, 1973–2012
and
and
Judges as Jackasses: The Death Penalty
4) RACE & THE DEATH PENALTY: A REBUTTAL TO THE
RACISM CLAIMS
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf
6) United States Crime Data, from FBI UCR
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
The Disaster Center is a convenient and reliable source
for crime data
1957 murder rate of 4.0 from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0873729.html
7) Capital Punishment, 2013 – Statistical Tables, Bureau of Justice Statistics, TABLE 16 Prisoners sentenced to death and the outcome of the sentence, by year of sentencing, 1973–2013 http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf
8) Total cases affected 746, so far : state law or court ruling, after 1973, CT, IL, MD, MA, NJ, NM, NY; cases stopping specific case death penalty application, Atkins v Virginia, Roper vs Simmons, Ring vs Arizona and others.
I haven't gotten new case law numbers on Ring, Penry and others, yet.
My informed estimate is that we are looking at a total of a 12% drop in death sentences, based upon new case law reductions and death penalty repeal, alone.
Gregg v Georgia (1976) accounted for about 500 - 600 death penalty reversals (9), from 1973-1978, which are modern era death sentences. I didn't count those.
9) See Virginia and California
Saving Costs with The Death Penalty
10) Capital Punishment, 2013 – Statistical Tables, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Table 11, Number of inmates executed, by race and Hispanic origin, 1977–2013,
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf
11) Capital Punishment, 2013 – Statistical Tables, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Table 10. Average time between sentencing and execution, 1977–2013, 12/2014,
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf
12) "James Holmes prosecutor talks about the one holdout
juror who spared the killer's life", Maria L. LaGanga, Los Angeles Times,
8/24/2015
13) No "Botched" Execution - Arizona (or
Ohio)
14) The (Imagined) Horror of Dennis McGuire's
Execution
21) "Troy Davis & The Innocent Frauds of the
anti death penalty lobby",
======
