Eighteenth century pickpockets used to prowl the swarms of Englishfolk who turned out for public executions of ... pickpockets. As spectacle, the gallows gave street vendors and street thieves a lucrative venue with which to earn their bread. As retribution, capital punishment works. As deterrent, the noose, the chopping block, the firing squad and all other manner of execution have never been effective. Which hadn't, until recently, stopped necks from being stretched or heads from being separated from them.
A few years ago in the United States, which remains one of the few developed countries that still sentences criminals to death—none in the European Union—the push was for more and speedier executions. Now, maybe, the tide is turning. But only maybe. We've seen concerted opposition to capital punishment dwindle before.
It's not that the majority of the American public has changed its view. While support for capital punishment has reached its lowest point in 39 years, only once in the 75 years that the Gallup Poll has asked the question "Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?" has a plurality replied "no." That was in 1966.
The majority of Americans still believe the death penalty is applied fairly, though the majority of people of color do not. That stands to reason since the death penalty is actually not applied fairly and people of color pay dearly as a consequence. In the past few years, Gallup has shown Americans to be about evenly split when offered a choice between a sentence of execution or life without a chance of parole. And that is where death penalty foes see an opening. They plan to drive a wedge into it in 2012. Mackenzie Weinger writes:
In California, supporters of abolishing the death penalty have gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures to place a measure on the November ballot, while activists and lawmakers in Maryland, Kansas, Ohio and Connecticut are gearing up for legislative battles in their states.
Advocates say the coming year could be their best opportunity yet to replace the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole in these states, pointing to shifts in public opinion, rising concern over execution costs, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s recent decision to place a moratorium on capital punishment, and Troy Davis’s high-profile execution galvanizing opposition to the death penalty. And in California, the drive for a public referendum could get a boost by appearing on the presidential election-year ballot, backers say.
Davis’s controversial case, which spurred protests in Georgia and around the country, was a wake-up call for many Americans, said Diann Rust-Tierney, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s executive director.
As you can see with this extremely useful interactive map, 16 states and the District of Columbia have no death penalty, Michigan having gotten rid of its in 1846, Illinois having done so this year. But the other 34 are still executing. In the past 29 years, Texas has executed the most, 477, all by lethal injection. Six more on death row are scheduled for execution in Texas before April 2012. Even in the Lone Star state, however, because of people on death row having been exonerated, there is a movement to stop the killing.
And while Democrats are more likely to oppose the death penalty than Republicans, there is some cross-the-aisle action:
In Kansas, Republican state senator Carolyn McGinn is leading the call for an end to the death penalty. Donna Schneweis of the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty noted that the issue has taken hold across the political spectrum: A bill that would have abolished capital punishment in 2010 garnered support from conservatives, moderates and progressives, but ultimately failed on a 20-20 vote in the state senate. In 2012, supporters say they’ll try again.
The end of the death penalty in Illinois announced last March was initiated in 2000 by Republican Gov. George Ryan. And there are also death-penalty opponents like Jeanne Woodford. She worked for 26 years at San Quentin, five as its warden. She told reporter Weinger that each time she conducted the four executions undertaken on her watch, a staff member would ask if they had made the world safer that night. “We all knew the answer was no,” she said.
Nobody, least of all those who have been toiling for decades to end the death penalty, think they will get rid of it nationwide any time soon. Support for capital punishment is much stronger in the South, for instance. But there is at least some movement in the right direction to stop this barbaric practice with its strong racist and classist overtones.
Want more information? You can find thorough material at the Death Penalty Information Center.
Want to get active? There are several organizations you can help, including the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives.
Your state may have an organization, too. This is no place for a comprehensive list, but here are two examples, the Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and California's Death Penalty Focus.