Constitutional Law: December 2007 Archives
The death penalty in the United States may well be gasping its last breath, at least outside of Texas. As we previously discussed, last week New Jersey bcame the first state in forty years to outlaw executions. The next day, the United Nations passed a resolution calling for the suspension of the death penalty worldwide. The resolution cited the two major arguments against the death penalty: “There is no conclusive evidence of the death penalty's deterrence value” and “any miscarriage or failure of justice in the death penalty's implementation is irreversible and irreparable."
On January 7th, the United States Supreme Court will hear argument on whether lethal injection as a means of execution constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Because of that pending matter, executions across the nation have been stayed since September 25th, though Texas hurried to perform the last one before the deadline when Judge Sharon Keller disgraced the judiciary by refusing to accept the late papers of the defendant's attorneys because, she said, "We close at 5."
More than 3300 inmates currently sit on death row units across the country, though this year there were only 42 executions, a thirteen year low.
Alan Milstein
