NC Policy Watch: “On Dec. 13, just as horrifying images from Iran emerged showing condemned protestors hanged publicly on street-corner construction cranes, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown followed Virginia’s lead and commuted the death sentences of 17 inmates to life imprisonment and dismantled that state’s death chamber.
It is gratifying to see another state break away from the horrific legacy of the death penalty. On March 25, 2021, then-Gov. Ralph Northam formally abolished Virginia’s death penalty, ending a 413-year legacy of death. North Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma and many other death penalty states would be wise to take a cue from Oregon’s and the Old Dominion’s precedents.
Capital punishment in America dates to 1608, when Capt. George Kendall was shot in Jamestown for treason and conspiracy. The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) estimates there are currently approximately 2,414 inmates in America now facing execution, the lowest since 1990. About 61 have scheduled execution dates. Thirty-three of the 61 are in Ohio, and 21 are in Oklahoma.
The imposition of a death sentence gives a false impression that justice is being served. However, according to the 2020 National Prisoner Statistics program, 84% of planned executions are commuted, delayed or canceled, or the inmate reprieved. With only 16% of those sentenced to death executed, old age, suicide and natural causes become leading sources of death among death row inmates. The death penalty can thus be described as soft on crime, as it delays or even denies that promised justice for victims’ families.
It is this compassion for the loved ones left behind that drives opposition to the death penalty.”