Christians heartened by US decline in death sentences
-14/12/04
The number of death sent
Christians heartened by US decline in death sentences
-14/12/04
The number of death sentences imposed in the United States and the number of executions carried out have declined sharply over the past five years, according to a report by the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes capital punishment.
The news will hearten many churches and Christian campaigners who are opposed to the death penalty, based on their understanding of justice and respect for life.
These include: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, The World Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church, and the eastern orthodox churches
At the end of last year Pope John Paul II added his voice to support the renewal of the international campaign against the death penalty.
At the beginning of the month Christians joined in protests against the death penalty in more than 300 cities around the world.
“By every measure, the death penalty in the U.S. has been in decline since 1999,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based center, citing the public’s concerns about innocence as a principal reason.
Five death-row inmates have been exonerated so far this year ó two in Louisiana and one each in Illinois, North Carolina and Texas ó for a total of 117 people set free since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment.
The US government reported last month that last year 144 inmates in 25 states were given the death penalty, 24 fewer than in 2002 and less than half the average of 297 between 1994 and 2000, according to the Justice Department.
Robin Maher, director of the American Bar Association’s death penalty representation project, agreed that statistics reflect the public’s growing scepticism in the reliability of the death penalty and decreased confidence in fairness of the system.
“Juries are more reluctant to impose the death sentence for a variety of reasons, prime among them a parade of wrongfully convicted people leaving death row,” she said.
But Charles Hobson, an attorney with the Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation ó which favours capital punishment ó said there are fewer death sentences because the violent-crime rate has gone down and people feel safer.
Hobson said that the budget crises facing most states also may have caused some district attorneys to become more selective about seeking the death penalty.
In 1999, 282 death sentences were handed down. In 2003, there were 144, the lowest total in 30 years; 2004’s total is likely to be smaller still, according to Justice Department projections.
And the number of executions around the United States has dropped almost 40 percent in the past five years. In 1999 there were 98 executions, the most in the modern era of the death penalty. This year there have been 59.
Christians heartened by US decline in death sentences
-14/12/04
The number of death sentences imposed in the United States and the number of executions carried out have declined sharply over the past five years, according to a report by the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes capital punishment.
The news will hearten many churches and Christian campaigners who are opposed to the death penalty, based on their understanding of justice and respect for life.
These include: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, The World Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church, and the eastern orthodox churches
At the end of last year Pope John Paul II added his voice to support the renewal of the international campaign against the death penalty.
At the beginning of the month Christians joined in protests against the death penalty in more than 300 cities around the world.
“By every measure, the death penalty in the U.S. has been in decline since 1999,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based center, citing the public’s concerns about innocence as a principal reason.
Five death-row inmates have been exonerated so far this year ó two in Louisiana and one each in Illinois, North Carolina and Texas ó for a total of 117 people set free since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment.
The US government reported last month that last year 144 inmates in 25 states were given the death penalty, 24 fewer than in 2002 and less than half the average of 297 between 1994 and 2000, according to the Justice Department.
Robin Maher, director of the American Bar Association’s death penalty representation project, agreed that statistics reflect the public’s growing scepticism in the reliability of the death penalty and decreased confidence in fairness of the system.
“Juries are more reluctant to impose the death sentence for a variety of reasons, prime among them a parade of wrongfully convicted people leaving death row,” she said.
But Charles Hobson, an attorney with the Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation ó which favours capital punishment ó said there are fewer death sentences because the violent-crime rate has gone down and people feel safer.
Hobson said that the budget crises facing most states also may have caused some district attorneys to become more selective about seeking the death penalty.
In 1999, 282 death sentences were handed down. In 2003, there were 144, the lowest total in 30 years; 2004’s total is likely to be smaller still, according to Justice Department projections.
And the number of executions around the United States has dropped almost 40 percent in the past five years. In 1999 there were 98 executions, the most in the modern era of the death penalty. This year there have been 59.