The slow death of capital punishment

Abolishing the death penalty is not something that is going to help in one fell swoop. It will happen slowly, incrementally, over the course of years. In fact, we may be in that process right now.

According to The Death Penalty Information Center's end of year report, all indications are that capital punishment is whithering on the vine in the United States.

For the first time in two decades, the Gallup Poll this year revealed that more Americans support the alternative sentence of life without parole over the death penalty as the proper punishment for murder. This result is in-step with the Death Penalty Information Center's (DPIC) 2006 Year End Report detailing a continuing trend away from capital punishment in the United States. In its report, DPIC notes that U.S. death sentences are now at an historic 30-year low, executions have sharply declined, and the size of death row has been dropping since 2000. (my bold)

You can read the full press release at the blog of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Andy in the HBG