Editorials

A recent editorial in America Magazine entitled The Price of Death reviewed the growing problems with the death penalty and stated, "It is time for the nation to conclude once and for all that in our civilized society there is no place for capital punishment."  The national Catholic weekly cited the recently botched execution in Ohio, racial disparities, and the possibility of executing the innocent as reasons why public support for capital punishment has declined.  The  editorial also pointed to the high costs of the death penalty as a reason for acting now: "During the current recession, revenue-starved states are looking closely at the cost of capital punishment. According to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., death penalty cases typically require huge expenditures, partly because of re-trials to correct prior errors. California’s Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, for example, has estimated that the state is spending $138 million a year on the death penalty. . . .Lawmakers, forced by the budget crisis to make cuts in basic services like schools, law enforcement, health care and libraries, must rethink such outlays for capital punishment."

In an editorial on September 28 in the New York Times, the paper called the death penalty "an economic drain on governments with already badly depleted budgets."  Citing figures from the Death Penalty Information Center, the Times noted that "States waste millions of dollars on winning death penalty verdicts, which require an expensive second trial, new witnesses and long jury selections. Death rows require extra security and maintenance costs." The editors remarked that some states have begun reconsidering whether the death penalty is worth its exorbitant costs, especially since the money spent could be used instead on “police officers, courts, public defenders, legal service agencies and prison cells.” The editorial was discussed on Daily Kos. The entire editorial can be read below:

The Hartford Courant has called for an end to the death penalty in Connecticut, citing its costs and risks.  The paper called a legislative committee’s work toward abolishing Connecticut’s death penalty “brave,” and said the state’s capital punishment system was “unworkable, not to mention expensive, unfair, and risky.”  They quoted State Sen. Mary Anne Handley who said: "The death penalty is neither swift nor certain. It may even be certain that it's not going to happen."  The editorial concluded, “The state's goal should be to keep society safe. It can accomplish that without the expectation of executions that rarely if ever take place.”  The full editorial may be read below:
 

The Houston Chronicle is calling on Texas Governor Rick Perry to delay the execution of Larry Swearingen, which is scheduled for January 27.  The Chronicle notes that the forensic scientist who testified about the time of death of the victim at Swearingen's trial now believes the death occurred later, a time at which Swearingen was in police custody on another matter. Five other physicians and forensic experts concurred that the murder occurred after the time that Swearingen was arrested on a traffic matter.  Blood and hair samples from the victim also indicated the presence of another assailant.  Dr. Glenn Larkin, a retired forensic pathologist who reviewed the case, told the Texas Monthly that “no rational and intellectually honest person can look at the evidence and conclude Larry Swearingen is guilty of this horrible crime.”

A recent editorial in the Washington Post cited trends and statistics from DPIC's 2008 Year End Report in calling for an end to the death penalty in Maryland.  The paper urged Maryland lawmakers to "heed the march of history" and noted that use of the death penalty is declining around the country: "According to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that studies capital punishment, executions nationwide reached a 14-year low in 2008, with only 37 executions carried out, compared with 42 in 2007. A full 95 percent of these executions took place in Southern states, with Texas once again earning the dubious distinction as leader of the pack, with 18 executions -- or nearly 50 percent of all executions in the country."  The editorial also cited recent findings from the bipartisan Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment, noting that it found “clear cut evidence that capital punishment in the state neither deters crime nor provides a sense of closure for victims’ families.” 

The full editorial may be found below: