The pace of exe­cu­tions in Georgia is out­strip­ping the pace of death sen­tences. While the num­ber of exe­cu­tions this year (5) is equal to the sin­gle-year record set in 1987 and 2015, no one has been sen­tenced to death in more than two years, and pros­e­cu­tors are rarely seek­ing death sen­tences. The last death sen­tence in Georgia came down in March 2014. The num­ber of notices of intent to seek the death penal­ty has fall­en by more than 60% in the last decade, from 34 in 2006 to 13 in 2015. This year, the death penal­ty is being sought in only one case — the mur­der of a priest who had protest­ed against cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and signed a doc­u­ment stat­ing his oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty, even in the event he was vio­lent­ly killed. Brian Kammer, head of the Georgia Resource Center, which rep­re­sents death row inmates in their appeals, said improv­ing the qual­i­ty of rep­re­sen­ta­tion has been cru­cial in bring­ing about change: ​“Had such legal teams with ade­quate resources been avail­able to these recent­ly exe­cut­ed pris­on­ers at the time they were tried orig­i­nal­ly, I am con­fi­dent they would be alive today.” Both defense attor­neys and pros­e­cu­tors said the option of life with­out parole has had a sig­nif­i­cant impact. Chuck Spahos, head of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said, ​“It has made an enor­mous dif­fer­ence. When you start talk­ing about the expense, the years of appeals and the length of the process that goes on and on and hav­ing to put vic­tims’ fam­i­lies through that with no clo­sure, the avail­abil­i­ty of life with­out parole with a guilty plea has become an attrac­tive option.” Atlanta crim­i­nal defense attor­ney Akil Secret raised ques­tions of fair­ness, ask­ing, ​“If a life-with­out-parole sen­tence is suf­fi­cient for today’s worst crimes, why isn’t it suf­fi­cient for those crimes from the past where death was imposed?” 

(B. Rankin, ​“Georgia exe­cu­tions rise, while death sen­tences plum­met,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 18, 2016.) See Arbitrariness and Sentencing.

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