A recent study by David McCord, Professor of Law at Drake University Law School, titled What’s Messing with Texas Death Sentences?, found five sig­nif­i­cant caus­es for the recent decline in death sen­tences in Texas. McCord sought to explain a 65% drop in Texas death sen­tences from their peak five-year peri­od of 1992 – 1996 (when there was an annu­al aver­age of 40 death sen­tences) to the recent five-year peri­od of 2005 – 2009 (when only 14 death sen­tences were hand­ed down on aver­age each year). The study point­ed to numer­ous devel­op­ments in Texas that have like­ly con­tributed to this decline, includ­ing changes in the legal land­scape and changes on the coun­ty lev­el. McCord cit­ed the advent of life-wthout-parole sen­tences in Texas as the strongest legal fac­tor in reduc­ing death sen­tences, and the polit­i­cal changes in Harris County (Houston) as a sig­nif­i­cant con­trib­u­tor on the county level.

McCord’s list of con­tribut­ing factors were:

  1. Fewer cap­i­tal mur­der con­vic­tions: the num­ber of cap­i­tal mur­der con­vic­tions (a nec­es­sary con­vic­tion in order to seek the death penal­ty) declined by 21% between the ear­li­er five-year peri­od and the more recent five-year peri­od. (mod­est effect)
  2. Availability of life with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole as a sen­tenc­ing option: in 2005, the option of a life sen­tence with­out the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole became an option in cap­i­tal cas­es in Texas. Prior to 2005, juries were pre­sent­ed with two options in cap­i­tal cas­es: death or life with parole after 40 years. (large effect)
  3. U.S. Supreme Court exemp­tion of juve­niles and defen­dants with intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ties: in 2002 and in 2005, the U.S. Supreme court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia and Roper v. Simmons (respec­tive­ly) that defen­dants with intel­lec­tu­al dis­abil­i­ties and juve­nile defen­dants were inel­i­gi­ble for the death penal­ty. (mod­est effect)
  4. Less pop­u­lous coun­ties seek the death penal­ty less fre­quent­ly: death sen­tences orig­i­nat­ing from Texas’s less pop­u­lous coun­ties declined from an aver­age of 15 sen­tences per year between 1992 – 1996 to an aver­age of four death sen­tences per year between 2002 – 2005. McCord attrib­uted this decline in part to the finan­cial costs that death penal­ty pros­e­cu­tions incur, a strain that small­er coun­ties are unable to with­stand. (large effect)
  5. A sharp decline in death sen­tences orig­i­nat­ing from Harris County: a sig­nif­i­cant decline in death sen­tences from Harris County, the most active death penal­ty coun­ty in Texas and in the nation. Between 1992 – 1996, 66 death sen­tences orig­i­nat­ed from Harris County, in con­trast to the 12 for the lat­er time peri­od. McCord attrib­uted this decline to the retire­ment of District Attorney Johnny Holmes, who was staunch­ly pro-death penal­ty and suc­cess­ful­ly sought the death penal­ty in many mur­der cas­es. (large effect).

(D. McCord, ​“What’s Messing With Texas Death Sentences?” Drake University Law School, 2010; post­ed by DPIC Nov. 15, 2011). See Sentencing and Studies.

Citation Guide