Death Penalty

The state of Georgia has always had a special place in the history of the US death penalty.  It was Supreme Court cases out of Georgia that both halted (Furman v. Georgia, 1972) and restarted (Gregg v. Georgia, 1976) executions in the US.  In 1987, the Supreme Court ruled in McCleskey v. Kemp, another Georgia case, that statistics demonstrating systemic racial bias could not be used to argue racial bias in a particular death penalty case. 

Now, 21 years later, the state of Georgia has been the first to resume executions since the Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection could be constitutional in Baze v. Rees (pdf). William Earl Lynd was put to death last night for the murder of his girlfriend, Ginger Moore.  But it is telling that Georgia authorities did not openly brag about this dubious achievement.  Governor Sonny Perdue told the media, "It was not something we wanted to necessarily be first at. It was just the fact that this had been there."

Perhaps this is a sign that times have changed, that displaying ghoulish enthusiasm for the death penalty is no longer seen as a smart political move.  Politicians like Governor Perdue are aware that public opinion has slipped, and that public support for alternatives to the death penalty is now as high or higher than support for executions.  And that juries are increasingly reluctant to sentence people to death - in the last two years, death sentences have been lower than at any time since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

There will be more executions this year, maybe a lot more, but there will also undoubtedly be more examples of the grave injustices our capital punishment system is known for.  Between September 25, when Texas controversially executed Michael Richard on the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear Baze v. Rees, and last night, when Georgia executed William Earl Lynd, five men were exonerated from America's death rows.  (There have now been 129 such exonerations.)

The fundamental flaws in our death penalty continue to be exposed and the public continues to slowly turn away.  With our help, eventually politicians, legislatures and courts will get the message. 

Brian

DPAC