Death Penalty

Death Penalty Issues - Death Penalty

Gallup Poll: Support for Death Penalty Declines 2%, Opposition Reaches Highest Level in 43 Years

Support for the death penalty in the United States dropped by two percentage points over the last year and opposition rose to its highest levels since before the Supreme Court declared existing death penalty statutes unconstitutional in 1972, according to the 2015 annual Gallup Poll on the death penalty. Gallup reports that 61% of Americans say they favor the death penalty, down from 63% last year and near the 40-year low of 60% support recorded in 2013. Support was 19 points below the 80% who told Gallup in 1994 that they supported capital punishment.

Oregonian: Kate Brown's death penalty review slowly moves from back burner

September 19, 2015 SALEM — Eight days after taking office, Gov. Kate Brown said she would convene a small group of advisers to help her puzzle through one of Oregon's most contentious issues: the death penalty.

Gov. John Kitzhaber stopped executions in Oregon four years ago, citing concerns about injustice as a death row inmate sought to speed his execution. Brown, thrust into office after Kitzhaber quit last February, decided to keep his moratorium while she sought answers.

Now, seven months later, her office acknowledges she's just getting started.

Death Penalty In Connecticut Ruled Unconstitutional

Image Credit: Bob Child - Associated Press

The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday ruled the state's death penalty is unconstitutional.

The ruling will affect the 11 inmates currently on the state's death row. Lawmakers repealed the state's death penalty in 2012, but stipulated it only applied to future crimes.

Plaintiffs in Thursday's case had argued the 2012 ban should also extend to prisoners already on death row.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details...

Colorado jury sends James Holmes to life in prison, without the possibility of parole

Colorado jury sends James Holmes to life in prison, without the possibility of parole

In response to the life without parole sentence that a jury returned on Friday for James Holmes, who killed twelve people and injured many more in a Aurora, Colorado movie theater, the prosecutor stated: “I'm not disappointed with the system.

Statesman Journal: 'M*A*S*H' Actor keynotes anti-death penalty event

Today, a man originally on death row was supposed to be freed," actor and activist Mike Farrell said before a meeting of death penalty opponents.

Farrell was in the area Friday to address the Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty at the group's annual meeting and banquet.

Time Magazine: The Death of the Death Penalty

Time Magazine - The Death of the Death Penalty

The June 8, 2015 issue of Time magazine explores the decline of capital punishment in the U.S. The author, David Von Drehle, offers five significant reasons for the drop in death sentences, executions, and public support for the death penalty in the United States: problems with the administration of the death penalty, the falling crime rate, the erosion of the justification for capital punishment, the financial cost of the death penalty, and actions of the legislatures, lower-court judges and governors that be read by the Supreme Court as signs of 'evolving standards of decency' in society," which the U.S. Supreme Court may eventually see as justification for striking down capital punishment. Von Drehle concludes, "The facts are irrefutable, and the logic is clear. Exhausted by so many years of trying to prop up this broken system, the court will one day throw in the towel."

To read the complete article: http://time.com/deathpenalty

Daily Astorian Editorial: Death Penalty begs for reconsideration

Support for the death penalty is waning. Indiana joins the ranks of states without capital punishment Support for the death penalty is waning across America.

We see it most startlingly in the recent vote by Nebraska’s one-house Legislature. By a veto-proof margin, the Nebraska Senate voted to eliminate the death penalty. Nebraska is a red state. Its governor says he’ll veto the statute. But he would have to move two senators off their “no” votes.

Also recently, in blue Boston there was little popular support for giving the death penalty to the Boston Marathon bomber. The family of one victim said they favored a life sentence so they would not have to relive the crime at the successive appeals that come with death penalties.

Nebraska, #19, and counting! Nebraska has become the 19th state to repeal their death penalty.

Nebraska repeals death penalty

The “conservative” Republican unicameral legislature in Nebraska got it right! On May 20, by a 32-15 margin, a death penalty repeal bill passed. This was the third vote in this session and the “yes” votes were consistently favorable in each round of voting. Following the final vote, Governor Pete Ricketts stated he would veto the legislation and began a strenuous effort to get senators to change their vote. To override a veto 30 votes were required.

Death-penalty politics shift

Register Guard Opinion Editiorial

Register Guard Editorial:
Death-penalty politics shift: It’s time for Oregon to have statewide discussion
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says he plans to veto a bill passed last week that would abolish his state’s death penalty, declaring “the Legislature is out of touch with Nebraskans.”

Seeking death penalty adds $1M to prosecution cost, study says

Seattle University studies Washington State Costs of the Death Penalty
An in-depth study by four Seattle University professors found costs related to pursuing the death penalty are about 1.4 to 1.5 times more than when a prosecutor does not seek death.

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