New Report:The Right Way, More Republican lawmakers championing death penalty repeal on the 'Death Penalty Focus' along with Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mike Farrell, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, prison over death penalty, SCOTUS, Florida and Colorado...

The Right Way: More Republican lawmakers championing death penalty repeal

At a press conference in Washington, DC, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty released a new report that shows the surge in the number of Republican lawmakers who sponsored death penalty repeal legislation at the state level. The report – called The Right Way – looked at all death penalty repeal bills filed since 2000, using the increase in sponsorships as a measure for growing Republican leadership on the issue.

Findings include:

The number of Republican state lawmakers to sponsor death penalty repeal bills increased sharply since 2012.
From 2000 to 2012, it was rare for Republican state lawmakers to sponsor death penalty repeal bills. In 2013, the annual number of Republican sponsors more than doubled.
By 2016 ten times as many Republicans sponsored repeal bills than in 2000.
More than 67% of the Republicans sponsoring death penalty repeal bills did so in red states.

Read the report online (PDF, 2MB)

Print from Google Drive

In 2016, there were 10x more GOP #deathpenalty repeal sponsors than in 2000. Read the report:

In 2016, over 33% of all #deathpenalty repeal sponsors were Republican. Read the report:

Surge in the Republican sponsors of #deathpenalty repeal. Read the report:

One month ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium, dismantled the state’s death chamber and withdrew its lethal injection protocol. It was a stunning announcement, one we have been hoping to hear for 30 years, and the first major step in our goal to abolish the death penalty.

As DPF President Mike Farrell says, “It was a seminal moment for our effort and for our country.”
Six former governors, who either imposed a moratorium or repealed their death penalty, commend Newsom for his political courage in our “Voices” column.
Californians favor life in prison over the death penalty, according to two new polls taken in the wake of Newsom’s Executive Order.
And two CA Supreme Court justices indicated they, too, believe the state’s death penalty system is broken in an opinion in a death penalty case.
But SCOTUS continues to turn a blind eye to the gross injustice of capital punishment as its latest opinion in a death penalty case surprised everyone with its cruelty and malice.
SCOTUS is also grappling with bias in death penalty trials, hearing oral argument in a case on racist jury selection; and considering a petition for certiorari in another involving anti-gay bias.

You’ll find all that, plus a quick rundown of death penalty developments around the country, and a few reading suggestions below.

But before you jump in, we’d like to say congratulations to New Hampshire, which just yesterday passed a bill to repeal the death penalty with a majority strong enough to overcome a veto by the governor. Last year the governor vetoed a similar bill, but now it looks like repeal will finally happen in the coming days. We commend the legislators and activists who made this historic vote possible.

“The moratorium is a seminal moment for our effort and for our country.”

DPF President Mike Farrell says that when California Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in California, it “not only put wind in the sails of DPF, it has given hope to abolitionists across our country and around the world.”

Majority of Californians favor life in prison over death penalty according to new poll

Two new polls, one taken in the immediate aftermath of Gov. Newsom’s announcement, the other released this week, indicate Newsom is in step with the majority of voters.

Two CA Supreme Court justices weigh in on the death penalty

Two weeks after Gov. Newsom imposed a moratorium, two California Supreme Court justices issued their own critique of the death penalty system, and of Proposition 66.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s cruel and unusual opinion

“Bloodthirsty,” “appalling,” and “cruel” were just a few of the words used to describe last week’s opinion by the Court in Bucklew v. Precythe.

SCOTUS hears oral argument on racist jury selection

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in a jury selection bias case last month in which Mississippi death row prisoner Curtis Flowers, an African-American, was tried six times for murder.

SCOTUS to consider anti-gay bias case

The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider today the petition for certiorari of death row prisoner Charles Rhines, who may have been sentenced to death in South Dakota because of anti-gay jurors.

In brief: April 2019

Florida and Colorado were just two of several states that continued to tinker with the machinery of death in the past few weeks.

While we’re on the subject . . .

An article in “Filter” arguing that funders should donate to reform-minded candidates in rural areas if they want to see the justice system overhauled, and a piece in “Smithsonian” on how DNA evidence should not be considered unassailable are two of several reading suggestions we have this month.

Voices: Six former governors tell CA Gov. Newsom “he isn’t alone”

Six former governors, who either imposed moratoria or repealed the death penalty in their states, tell Gov. Newsom they know, “It wasn’t an easy decision — big ones never are — but there comes a point when inaction isn’t an option, and the way forward is clear.”

Don Lichterman
Sunset Corporation of America (SCA)
Sustainable Action Network (SAN)