DPIC Podcasts

Items: 71 — 80


Death Penalty in the U.S.

New Mexico

Published: Feb 20, 2015

The emp­ty­ing of death row by Governor Tony Anaya in 1986 set the tone for the ero­sion of sup­port for the death penal­ty in New Mexico. As a state with a grow­ing Roman Catholic and non-white pop­u­la­tion, the shift­ing demo­graph­ics became appar­ent in 2009 when Gov. Richardson asked his con­stituents for feed­back on death penal­ty abolition.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

New York

Published: Feb 20, 2015

New York car­ried out more exe­cu­tions than any state oth­er than Virgina between 1608 and 1972. However, in the 1960s, the state leg­is­la­ture began to chip away at what con­sti­tut­ed a cap­i­tal crime. In 2004, the state’s high­est court declared the death penal­ty vio­lates the state con­sti­tu­tion due to arbi­trari­ness and a state appel­late court effec­tive­ly vacat­ed death row in 2007.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

New Jersey

Published: Feb 09, 2015

In 2006, New Jersey became the first state to leg­isla­tive­ly impose a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions. This mora­to­ri­um would be the pre­cur­sor to the state’s abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty in 2007.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

Rhode Island

Published: Feb 09, 2015

A cap­i­tal mur­der tri­al wrought with prej­u­dice in the 18th cen­tu­ry set the foun­da­tion for a state that would abol­ish the death penal­ty twice in the next 200 years. This abo­li­tion­ist cul­ture led to con­tro­ver­sy when Governor Lincoln Chafee refused to trans­fer a mur­der sus­pect to Federal custody.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

District of Columbia

Published: Oct 31, 2014

The District of Columbia is a spe­cial area that has over­sight on both the local and fed­er­al lev­els. This unique sta­tus has led to a dynam­ic with the death penal­ty that is not found in any state in the US.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

Massachusetts

Published: Oct 31, 2014

Massachusetts has a long his­to­ry of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment ever since it was an English colony in the 17th cen­tu­ry. However, a famous case involv­ing two Italian immi­grants may have been the turn­ing point against cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment in Massachusetts.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

Iowa

Published: Oct 24, 2014

Uncivilized and impos­si­ble to enforce.” This was the sen­ti­ment of Iowa in 1872 when the state ini­tial­ly abol­ished cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. What fol­lowed was a series of events that led to the rein­state­ment, and sec­ond abo­li­tion of the death penalty.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

Vermont

Published: Oct 24, 2014

Vermont has a long his­to­ry of sparse use of cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and saw a steady decline in the scope of crimes that were pun­ish­able by death through­out the years. The death penal­ty was ren­dered invalid in 1972 by Furman v. Georgia and has nev­er been rein­stat­ed since.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

Hawaii

Published: Oct 10, 2014

In the late 19th cen­tu­ry, as Hawaii became a cen­ter of agri­cul­tur­al pro­duc­tion, the immi­grants who were brought to the islands in a form of inden­tured servi­tude bore the brunt of the arbi­trari­ness of the judi­cial sys­tem in annexed Hawaii.

Death Penalty in the U.S.

Alaska

Published: Oct 10, 2014

Alaska was under ter­ri­to­r­i­al and colo­nial rule from the 18th cen­tu­ry through 1959, when it became a state. This long his­to­ry of out­side influ­ence, in addi­tion to sev­er­al oth­er unique aspects of Alaska, have played an impor­tant role in the atti­tudes towards the death penal­ty there.