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NEWS & LETTERS, June 2002
Death penalty opponents at crossroads
The wall of political will that has served to support
the death penalty since its reappearance in the United States in 1977 seems to
be crumbling. The state of Maryland became, on May 9, the second state to issue
a blanket moratorium on the carrying out of executions, pending the release of
an academic study of the institution. A federal judge has issued a decision
contending that the federal death penalty may be unconstitutional. A poll carried out by ABC News in May confirms that
public support for capital punishment has measurably declined. It found that 65%
of the American public supported the death penalty, a number that, while high,
is significantly less than the numbers resulting from similar polls carried out
in the mid-1990s. These developments are to be welcomed wholeheartedly.
The death penalty is a racist weapon used by the state as the ultimate form of
social control. It is in large measure a state-sanctioned continuation of the
practice of the lynching of Black people and has been used, as well, as a weapon
to discipline labor activists like the Haymarket martyrs of the 19th century and
political dissidents like the Rosenbergs and Mumia Abu-Jamal in the 20th. It
deserves to be thrown down. Racial disparity Particularly noteworthy among these new developments is
the degree to which the issue of race is involved in the Maryland moratorium.
Unlike the decision of Illinois Governor George Ryan, which hinged solely on the
innocence of many of those on death row, the Maryland moratorium is linked to a
study being undertaken by the University of Maryland on racial disparities in
the death sentence. This is a crucial opening for opponents of capital
punishment to attack the institution at its weakest point as well as confront
the larger issue of anti-Black racism in the United States. What explains this partial disintegration of support for
the death penalty? The Illinois decision seemed to be a defensive move by a
politician faced with a thoroughgoing erosion of the legitimacy of his state's
criminal justice system. The governor, a supporter of capital punishment, acted
after a total of 13 death row inmates—a number exceeding by one those executed
by the state since 1977—had been freed due to evidence exonerating them. The sheer volume of this evidence, much, but not all of
it, provided by developments in technology, may have contributed to a rethinking
by many. Revulsion on the part of those who hear of the factory-like regularity
of executions in states like Texas surely plays a part as well. Some may have even been moved by the vigor of anti-death
penalty sentiment in European countries, particularly Italy, and their
reluctance to cooperate fully with President Bush's anti-terrorism efforts
because of the persistence of capital punishment here. Others may have been swayed by the cumulative effect of
case after case of prosecutorial misconduct, fabricated testimony offered by
jailhouse informants, instances of racial profiling, and inadequate performances
by overtaxed public defenders. The sum of these things means that the diverse movement
against the death penalty, one made up of activists, religious people, family
members and more, is having an impact on U.S. society. Yet as positive as these
developments are, those committed to the anti-death penalty cause are confronted
with some sober realities. The Illinois moratorium is not likely to end in the
abolition of capital punishment in the state. The panel appointed by Governor
Ryan to study the issue recently turned in its report and recommended no less
than 85 separate changes to the way the death penalty is handled in the state. Disappointingly, however, it did not urge that capital
punishment be abandoned. Legislation based on the recommendations is now being
opposed by the pro-death penalty forces in the Illinois state legislature. The
federal case, which applies only to courts in New York, Connecticut and Vermont,
is being appealed by prosecutors. The outcome of the Maryland moratorium will
not be determined for some time. Opportunities raise questions Despite the contradictions in the present moment, the
movement against the death penalty now has the opportunity to rally itself
around the position that the institution is too flawed to fix and that
moratoriums must lead to abolition. Equally profoundly, the movement has the
chance to seize the issue of racial disparities in the death sentence to
strengthen its character as a solidly anti-racist one. Additionally, the
movement has the opportunity to attack the life-without-parole substitution for
the death penalty by asking what kind of society would routinely relegate people
to a state with no future whatsoever. This new moment for the anti-death penalty movement is an important one. It holds great potential for widening the movement to end it and to profoundly transform the racist and class-ridden society that has employed capital punishment as a weapon throughout its history. |
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