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More evidence that the death penalty is dying a slow death on the front lines

By Douglas A. Berman

One datum showing the slow death of the modern American death penalty is the very low number of executions nationwide. (There has not been in more than a few executions in 2008 in any state other than Texas.)  But an even clearer indication that the death penalty is dying a slow death comes from data showing the reduction of death penalty indictments brought by prosecutors and death sentences imposed by juries.  These realities are reflected in this local article from my hometown paper, which is headlined "Death-penalty cases in Franklin County becoming rarer." Here is some data from the article: Of 106 death-penalty indictments in Franklin County since 2000, only three have resulted in a death sentence. No defendant has been sent to Death Row from the county since 2003...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 03, 2008 (boomark / email).