The year ahead is likely to see continued momentum toward the abolition of capital punishment in the United States. Two states — New Jersey and New Mexico — have repealed the death penalty in the last two years. We have handed down fewer death sentences in 2009 than any year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Here are six states that could move toward abolition in the year ahead:
Kansas has perhaps the best chance of repealing the death penalty in 2010 of any state in the nation. Surprised? A repeal bill passed committee in 2009, and an advisory committee of lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers has helped rewrite it to reintroduce in 2010. Four days of hearings on the issue start January 19. Kansas has 10 people on death row but hasn’t executed anyone since 1965.
New Hampshire hasn’t executed anyone since 1939 but handed down its first death sentence in decades this year. The state’s House of Representatives passed a repeal bill in 2009, but eventually settled for the creation of a commission to study capital punishment in the state. The panel will issue its report by December 2010, and there will be a strong chance for repeal of the death penalty in New Hampshire in 2011.
Montana passed a bill repealing the death penalty through the Republican-controlled state senate in 2009, but the House failed to pass a counterpart. There is support in the state to abolish capital punishment, expect more groundwork in 2010 and a new bill when the legislature reconvenes in 2011.
Connecticut‘s state legislature passed a bill this year repealing the death penalty, only to see it vetoed by Gov. Jodi Rell. She has said she won’t seek reelection in November, so repeal advocates could seek to bring a new bill before the next governor in early 2011.
Illinois has had a moratorium on executions since Gov. George Ryan cleared death row in 2003, but the state has continued to fill death row cells with new prosecutions. A bill to repeal the death penalty passed a House committee this year and then floundered.
Maryland narrowed its death penalty to only allow executions with DNA or video evidence, but Gov. Martin O’Malley wants a full repeal. Expect him to keep trying.
It’s tempting to want immediate repeal, rather than study commissions and groundwork, but this is the slog of the movement to repeal the death penalty. It’s an uphill battle and there won’t be wins without groundwork. This year was a successful one, even though states like Kansas and Maryland fell just short of repeal. The tide has turned, and next year could be even better.
Thanks to Equal Justice USA for helping me get the lay of land for this post, and to the Death Penalty Information Center for its resources on legislative activity around the death penalty.
Photo by rick