Monday, December 17, was International Human Rights Day. What an auspicious day for New Jersey to abolish capital punishment. As a follow up, the United Nations just passed a resolution calling for a world-wide moratorium on executions. Several other states tried to repeal their death penalty statutes this year, and others are in the process of studying their death penalty process. While several countries abolished the death penalty in 2007, it seems that pressure for others countries to join the majority will continue to mount in 2008.
The death penalty in the U.S. (and elsewhere) will not go quietly. Six countries (China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, and the United States) account for approximately 91% of the worlds executions. These countries joined with the minority in opposing the U.S. resolution. Support for capital punishment continues to decline, as does the number of executions and the size of death row.
Many people support the death penalty for several reasons. A majority do so because of a belief in either retribution or revenge. Others want to be protected from killers, so they want incapacitation or hope for general deterrence.
How do we reconcile the reality of the administration of the death penalty in this country with the theory of just deserts? I suggest we consider some of the following items in preparation for the debate over the future of capital punishment that awaits us.
Innocence. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that 126 wrongfully convicted individuals have been exonerated since 1973. Opponents have attacked the accuracy of this number, but there is no doubt that some innocent individuals have been sent to death row. A Gallup poll reveals that the majority of us believe that innocent people hve been executed.
Cost. The death penalty costs more than life in prison. This fact is difficult for many folks to believe, but every study has come to the same conclusion - it is 2-5 times more expensive to impose a death sentence. But this is not the only cost associated with the death penalty. When you consider that 60% to 80% of convictions or death sentences are overturned, then the real failure rate of capital punishment is revealed. These funds could be redirected to effective crime control policies.
Race & Social Class. Death row is occupied disproportionately by people of color and by poor people. Study after study has shown the insidious effect of race. And don't forget one can purchase the best justice that one can afford.
There are numerous other reasons that the death penalty should be abolished, including the lack of general deterrence, the impact on the victims' families, the quality of legal representation, and the role that politics plays in deciding who lives and who dies.
Let's join the majority of the world and embrace abolition now!