Post by marion on Jun 26, 2006 1:37:40 GMT -5
30 years of the death penalty
By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Sunday, June 25, 2006
One week from today will mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reinstated the death penalty after a four-year moratorium that began in 1972.
Since 1976, Virginia has executed 95 people and continues to follow Texas with the greatest number of executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Currently, Prince William County has the most inmates on death row of any jurisdiction in the state.
In the wake of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's decision earlier this month to delay Percy Levar Walton's execution, as well as a nationwide decline in support of the death penalty, some may say it's time to rethink the death penalty in Virginia.
A time for change?
Although the death penalty debate shows no signs of slowing, the issues have shifted over the past 30 years, giving both proponents and opponents reasons to ask for change.
Some, like local anti-death penalty activist Illana Naylor, think new issues have surfaced in recent years, such as costs of keeping inmates on death row, as well as the use of post-trial DNA testing.
Naylor said she thinks today's debate includes a "sense of morality combined with objective evidence like DNA and cost."
Death penalty opponents argue that it's more costly to keep people on death row than to give them life in prison, due to court costs, appeals and other expenses.
A 2003 legislative audit in Kansas found that the estimated cost of a death penalty case was 70 percent more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case, according to a report by Amnesty International USA.
Death penalty case costs were counted through to execution (median cost $1.26 million), according to Amnesty International. Non-death penalty case costs were counted through to the end of incarceration.
However, Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert argues that it's more costly to keep someone alive in prison.
In Virginia, the average operating cost per offender was $21,248 for fiscal 2005, according to the state department of corrections.
If a person were incarcerated for at least 50 years at that rate, it would cost the state upwards of $1 million.
New developments
Kent Willis, Virginia's ACLU executive director, said he sees several new issues that have surfaced within the past few decades.
Willis said he believes the nationwide sentiment is starting to be that the death penalty is not a part of civilized society anymore.
"Society has changed over the years," Willis said. "It's something that affects everyone, even in a post-9/11 world where there are a lot of bad people. We would call that a cultural shift."
In fact, according to a May 2006 Gallup poll, support nationwide for the death penalty was at 65 percent, a drop from 80 percent in 1994.
However, Ebert said he thinks it's quite the opposite in Prince William County.
Ebert said the attitude of the public has changed a lot. Formerly 50 percent of jurors were opposed to the death penalty. That has dropped to 10 percent, he said.
Willis said he thinks Virginia's death penalty system is "flawed," and he has noticed a growing group of people who agree with him.
Willis attributed the system's flaws to inadequate representation, "overly conservative courts" and a law structure that makes it difficult for people who have been found guilty, but are not, to prove their innocence.
"It's flawed in that it runs the potential of executing an innocent person," Willis said.
However, Ebert said he doesn't think there is anything wrong with the state's system, especially since a defendant has to meet specific criteria to be eligible for the death penalty.
"It's reserved for the worst of the worst," Ebert said.
Regarding innocent people being put on death row, Ebert said he thinks very few such people have ended up there in the state.
"The only hope is that you'll have the most perfect trial," Ebert said. "Any system is going to have some margin of error. If it is an occasional error, it's just part of the system, and we accept that."
Another recent development was the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to outlaw execution of juveniles in 2005.
Ebert said the incidence of having a juvenile on death row was rare.
Between 1976 and 2005, Virginia executed three juveniles, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, second to Texas, which executed 13.
A deterrent?
Death penalty opponents also argue that the death penalty is not a crime deterrent, another reason they cite as evidence to end capital punishment.
"The vast majority of killings in the 'cold world' involve drugs or gangs, or they're based on emotion," Willis said. "There are very few killings where the person pulling the trigger is thinking of the consequences."
Both Willis and Naylor agree that a person could be incarcerated for life so he or she wouldn't kill anyone else.
Stanley Rosenbluth, president of Virginians United Against Crime and a pro-death penalty activist, said he thinks that is a false argument because a prisoner could kill a guard or another prisoner.
Rosenbluth said the only sure way to prevent a capital murderer from killing again is the death penalty.
Ebert agrees, and added that the death penalty provides victims' families and friends with some kind of solace.
"It's always amazing to me that once a person is executed, it gives [the victim's family] some kind of closure," Ebert said.
Prince william county
Prince William County continues to be the leader in the state in death row inmates.
Ebert said that during the past 38 years he has served as the county's Commonwealth's Attorney, his prosecutions resulted in about a dozen people being on death row.
"I believe in the death penalty if the crime and the person fit," Ebert said.
For a person to be eligible for the death penalty, he or she must be convicted of first-degree murder along with one of 13 aggravating circumstances, according to the state code.
Ebert attributes the county's higher number of death row inmates to the county's supreme law enforcement.
Four people convicted in Prince William County are currently on death row: Justin Michael Wolfe, capital murder; Paul Warner Powell, capital murder; Larry B. Elliott, capital murder; John Allen Muhammad, capital murder, terrorist act.
By JACLYN PITTS
jpitts@potomacnews.com
Sunday, June 25, 2006
One week from today will mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reinstated the death penalty after a four-year moratorium that began in 1972.
Since 1976, Virginia has executed 95 people and continues to follow Texas with the greatest number of executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Currently, Prince William County has the most inmates on death row of any jurisdiction in the state.
In the wake of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's decision earlier this month to delay Percy Levar Walton's execution, as well as a nationwide decline in support of the death penalty, some may say it's time to rethink the death penalty in Virginia.
A time for change?
Although the death penalty debate shows no signs of slowing, the issues have shifted over the past 30 years, giving both proponents and opponents reasons to ask for change.
Some, like local anti-death penalty activist Illana Naylor, think new issues have surfaced in recent years, such as costs of keeping inmates on death row, as well as the use of post-trial DNA testing.
Naylor said she thinks today's debate includes a "sense of morality combined with objective evidence like DNA and cost."
Death penalty opponents argue that it's more costly to keep people on death row than to give them life in prison, due to court costs, appeals and other expenses.
A 2003 legislative audit in Kansas found that the estimated cost of a death penalty case was 70 percent more than the cost of a comparable non-death penalty case, according to a report by Amnesty International USA.
Death penalty case costs were counted through to execution (median cost $1.26 million), according to Amnesty International. Non-death penalty case costs were counted through to the end of incarceration.
However, Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert argues that it's more costly to keep someone alive in prison.
In Virginia, the average operating cost per offender was $21,248 for fiscal 2005, according to the state department of corrections.
If a person were incarcerated for at least 50 years at that rate, it would cost the state upwards of $1 million.
New developments
Kent Willis, Virginia's ACLU executive director, said he sees several new issues that have surfaced within the past few decades.
Willis said he believes the nationwide sentiment is starting to be that the death penalty is not a part of civilized society anymore.
"Society has changed over the years," Willis said. "It's something that affects everyone, even in a post-9/11 world where there are a lot of bad people. We would call that a cultural shift."
In fact, according to a May 2006 Gallup poll, support nationwide for the death penalty was at 65 percent, a drop from 80 percent in 1994.
However, Ebert said he thinks it's quite the opposite in Prince William County.
Ebert said the attitude of the public has changed a lot. Formerly 50 percent of jurors were opposed to the death penalty. That has dropped to 10 percent, he said.
Willis said he thinks Virginia's death penalty system is "flawed," and he has noticed a growing group of people who agree with him.
Willis attributed the system's flaws to inadequate representation, "overly conservative courts" and a law structure that makes it difficult for people who have been found guilty, but are not, to prove their innocence.
"It's flawed in that it runs the potential of executing an innocent person," Willis said.
However, Ebert said he doesn't think there is anything wrong with the state's system, especially since a defendant has to meet specific criteria to be eligible for the death penalty.
"It's reserved for the worst of the worst," Ebert said.
Regarding innocent people being put on death row, Ebert said he thinks very few such people have ended up there in the state.
"The only hope is that you'll have the most perfect trial," Ebert said. "Any system is going to have some margin of error. If it is an occasional error, it's just part of the system, and we accept that."
Another recent development was the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to outlaw execution of juveniles in 2005.
Ebert said the incidence of having a juvenile on death row was rare.
Between 1976 and 2005, Virginia executed three juveniles, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, second to Texas, which executed 13.
A deterrent?
Death penalty opponents also argue that the death penalty is not a crime deterrent, another reason they cite as evidence to end capital punishment.
"The vast majority of killings in the 'cold world' involve drugs or gangs, or they're based on emotion," Willis said. "There are very few killings where the person pulling the trigger is thinking of the consequences."
Both Willis and Naylor agree that a person could be incarcerated for life so he or she wouldn't kill anyone else.
Stanley Rosenbluth, president of Virginians United Against Crime and a pro-death penalty activist, said he thinks that is a false argument because a prisoner could kill a guard or another prisoner.
Rosenbluth said the only sure way to prevent a capital murderer from killing again is the death penalty.
Ebert agrees, and added that the death penalty provides victims' families and friends with some kind of solace.
"It's always amazing to me that once a person is executed, it gives [the victim's family] some kind of closure," Ebert said.
Prince william county
Prince William County continues to be the leader in the state in death row inmates.
Ebert said that during the past 38 years he has served as the county's Commonwealth's Attorney, his prosecutions resulted in about a dozen people being on death row.
"I believe in the death penalty if the crime and the person fit," Ebert said.
For a person to be eligible for the death penalty, he or she must be convicted of first-degree murder along with one of 13 aggravating circumstances, according to the state code.
Ebert attributes the county's higher number of death row inmates to the county's supreme law enforcement.
Four people convicted in Prince William County are currently on death row: Justin Michael Wolfe, capital murder; Paul Warner Powell, capital murder; Larry B. Elliott, capital murder; John Allen Muhammad, capital murder, terrorist act.