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Harris 'fallen behind' in macabre competition: LWOP led to fewer Texas death sentences

There's something odd about a news story bemoaning the fact that Houston has "fallen behind" other large Texas cities in the number of death sentences given out by its juries. I admit it's remarkable, given the town's long-time reputation as the Death Penalty Capital of the United States, but it seems off-putting to view capital punishment as some sort of score in a macabre competition.Still, Texas' and particularly Houston's decline in death sentences are a notable shift, one which Lise Olsen attributes in the Houston Chronicle ("Harris County loses state lead in executions," Dec. 28) to Texas' passage in 2005 of life without parole as a sentencing option in capital crimes:Long the state's leader in sending convicts to death row, Harris County has fallen behind both Bexar and Tarrant counties in the number of death sentences it imposes, an analysis of eight years of records shows...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on December 28, 2009 (boomark / email).