Entries by Death Penalty Information Center

An editorial published by the Lexington Herald-Leader noted that support for Kentucky’s death penalty has declined since the state resumed executions a decade ago. The paper stated that 68% of state residents questioned in a recent poll preferred a long prison sentence over execution for those convicted of murder. The Herald-Leader concluded that Kentuckians’ growing unease about capital punishment is reflective of a broader national trend away from the death penalty and that the death penalty…

Professor Matthew Robinson of Applachian State University has written a new book entitled Death Nation: The Experts Explain American Capital Punishment. This book provides a solid yet brief background on the major issues pertaining to capital punishment in the United States. It covers topics such as the history of the death penalty in America, American death penalty law, justifications for capital punishment, as well as alleged problems with its practice. The book also presents a study of…

The report from the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission that called for an end to the state’s death penalty was prepared by a group of individuals representing a wide variety of viewpoints and experience. The members of the Commission were: Governor Jon S. Corzine appointed: Eddie Hicks, a member of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation; Kathleen Garcia, a member of the New Jersey Crime Victims’ Law Center; the Reverend M. William Howard, Jr., of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark…

EXECUTION REPRIEVES Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio granted temporary reprieves to three inmates scheduled for execution in the next 5 weeks in order to allow more time to consider whether clemency should be granted: Kenneth Biros, James Filiaggi, and Christopher Newton. (Jan. 19, 2007). See Clemency. MENTAL COMPETENCY The Indiana Supreme Court has stayed the January 19 execution Norman Timberlake pending the outcome of Panetti v. Quarterman in the U.S. Supreme Court. Panetti concerns the standard…

After extensive public hearings, the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission issued a report on January 2 calling for an end to the state’s death penalty and replacing it with a sentence of life without parole. The 13-member Commission was appointed by the state legislature, which also placed a moratorium on all executions until a report was prepared. The report cited the risks of executing the innocent, the high costs of the death penalty, and society’s evolving standards of decency in…

One of the first inmates scheduled to be executed in 2007 is Ronald Chambers, who has been on death row since Gerald Ford was President, and longer than any other inmate in Texas. He is facing execution on January 25, thirty-one years after he was first sentenced to death for murder. His co-defendant in the crime, Clarence Ray Williams, pleaded guilty and is serving two life sentences. Chambers’ conviction was overturned twice since 1976, including once on the grounds that prosecutors…

As 2006 draws to a close, most executions in ten states are effectively on hold as aspects of their capital punishment laws are examined. Two states, Illinois and New Jersey, have a formal moratorium on all executions while the viability of the death penalty is considered. In eight other states, almost all executions are being stayed as the states grapple with the lethal injection issue. Those states are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, and South Dakota. In…

In his final article for 2006, columnist Richard Cohen chose to highlight the “madness of the death penalty” and to draw attention to the execution of those with mental illness. Cohen used the case of Gregory Thompson, a severely mentally ill Tennessee death row inmate, to illustrate some of the broader problems with the death penalty. Thompson is delusional, paranoid, schizophrenic, and depressed. He takes 12 pills every day and receives twice-monthly anti-psychotic injections. Cohen notes…

The latest edition of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s “Death Row, USA” reports that the number of people on death row in the United States has continued to decline, falling to 3,344 as of October 1, 2006. The size of death row has been declining since 2000 after 25 years of steady increases. For the first time in many years, Florida (398) surpassed Texas (392) in the size of its deathrow. California (657) continued to have the largest death row. Nationally, the racial composition of those on…

Following an announcement that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty for Naveed Haq, who is accused of killing one woman and wounding five others at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, two of Haq’s victims said they supported the decision to seek a life sentence. “The death penalty most likely promulgates further violence and revenge,” said Cheryl Stumbo, who was wounded in the attack. King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng classified it as “one of the most serious crimes that has ever…