Since DPIC released its new report, The 2% Death Penalty, on October 2, both national and international media have been reporting on its findings. The Washington Post noted, “Two percent of the counties in the country were responsible for [most] 685 of 1,320 executions from 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, to 2012.”The Los Angeles Times, quoted DPIC’s Executive Director, “ ‘The death penalty is not as American or as widespread as people might assume. It is clustered in a few counties,’ said Richard Dieter, the group’s executive director.” Similar stories have appeared inCBS News, The Guardian (London), U.S. News & World Report, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Columbus Dispatch, The National Journal, and many other outlets. Many stories echoed Stateline’s emphasis on the burden that all taxpayers share because of the actions of a few counties: “After a death sentence is handed down, states are on the hook for paying for the prosecution and sometimes defense, as well as housing the inmate. Those costs are borne by the entire state, not just the counties that impose the death sentence.” (Click on image to enlarge).
(Posted by DPIC, October 3, 2013; media coverage available from DPIC). See Arbitrariness. See other DPICReports.
