Alabama is the only state that in which judges regularly impose death sentences even after a jury recommends a life sentence. Death row inmate Courtney Lockhart has asked the Alabama Supreme Court to reconsider his sentence imposed as a result of this unique process. Lockhart was convicted of capital murder in 2010. The jury unanimously found that his post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting from his military service in Iraq, was sufficiently mitigating to recommend a sentence of life without parole. However, the presiding judge overrode this recommendation and sentenced Lockhart to death. In Alabama, one-fifth of death row inmates were sentenced to death over a jury’s recommendation for life. A study by the Equal Justice Initiative found that “the proportion of death sentences imposed by override often is elevated in election years.” Some elected judges touted their death penalty records in campaign ads. The practice of judicial override has contributed to Alabama having one of the highest per-capita death sentencing rates in the country. Bryan Stevenson (pictured), executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, said he hoped that Lockhart’s case will allow the Alabama Supreme Court to “reevaluate the propriety of judicial override.” Delaware and Florida technically also allow judicial override, but neither state has had a judge use it in over 15 years.

(R. Buckwalter-Poza, “With Judges Overriding Death Penalty Cases, Alabama Is An Outlier,” NPR, July 27, 2014). See Arbitrariness and Sentencing.

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