[lbo-talk] Death penalty

[Jordan Hayes]

Wojtek complains that those who actively work against the death penalty 
have misapplied their energy when, life-for-life, they should be 
concerned about something other than "executing a criminal or two" --  
and yet, in the US, the movement against the death penalty has yielded 
some real results over the years.  Even in this century, four states 
have repealed their capital punishment laws, and three have had their 
laws ruled unconstitutional, so far without a successful response.  The 
pressure from that movement -- which includes not just energy spent 
trying to change the laws, but also bringing successful challenges to 
the way they are performed, adds up to a positive downward trend result 
in the last 10 years.  Nearly half of the 37 states that allow it have 
had fewer than 10 total executions since 1976; Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma 
and Florida make up more than 60% of the "modern" executions.  And 
certainly the effect is greatest in California, which has the largest 
number of inmates on death row of any state -- over 700 -- and yet has 
only managed to execute 13 in the last 36 years.

It seems to me that work against the death penalty has paid real 
dividends.

/jordan