Originally published October 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified October 21, 2007 at 2:02 AM
Execution slowdown seen as opportunity by capital punishment opponents
As scheduled executions stall in some states, death-penalty opponents watch to see if the practice will fall out of favor in the meantime.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Stop executions for a while and perhaps they can be stopped forever. That calculation has been part of the strategy of capital punishment opponents for decades.
The Supreme Court-inspired slowdown in executions offers the first nationwide opportunity in decades to test whether the absence of regularly scheduled executions will lead some states to abandon the death penalty and change public attitudes about capital punishment.
Recent decisions by judges and elected officials have made clear that most executions will not proceed until the Supreme Court rules on two death-row inmates' challenge to the lethal injection procedures used by Kentucky. The inmates say Kentucky's method creates the risk of pain severe enough to be cruel and unusual punishment, banned by the Eighth Amendment.
Similar procedures are used by Texas, the far-and-away leader in lethal injections, and the 16 other states that have executed prisoners in the past two years.
It is clear the high court will not go so far as to outlaw the use of lethal injections. That issue is not even before the court in the Kentucky case.
Rather, the justices could decide whether Kentucky's procedures violate the Constitution and what standard the courts should use to evaluate the risk a prisoner will feel pain as he is put to death.
No matter how the court rules, it appears there will be few, if any, prisoners executed before the court rules, probably by late June.
"We're probably looking at delaying executions, not preventing them," said Ronald Tabak, a New York-based lawyer who has represented death-row inmates.
But Douglas Berman, a sentencing expert at the Ohio State University law school, said the possibility exists for more dramatic action.
"The abolitionists will say if we have no executions for six months to a year, and the universe is not imploding and murder rates are not going through the roof ... it becomes easier to say, 'Why do we even need the death penalty, let's just get rid of it,' " Berman said.
Questions about the administration of lethal injections are only part of the equation.
Death-penalty opponents also have pointed to doubts about the competence of some court-appointed defense lawyers and the rise in the number of exonerations through DNA evidence of people already convicted of crimes.
![]()
The last time the country went without executions for an extended period was from June 1967 to January 1977.
The Supreme Court in 1972 struck down 40 state death-penalty laws, but did not ban capital punishment as cruel and unusual.
Some justices at the time thought their decision in Furman v. Georgia would bring an end to the death penalty.
By 1976, though, in the midst of a "law-and-order" backlash to the court's decisions in favor of the rights of criminal defendants, elected officials in 35 states had adopted laws to comply with the death-penalty ruling.
A more conservative court upheld some of those laws and executions resumed.
Nearly 1,100 people have been put to death since 1977 and more than 3,000 others are on death row.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 01:18 PM
GM sale cleared, path opens to exit Chapter 11
UPDATE - 01:25 PM
Jobless claims indicate economy remains weak
Tough fight coming up in Afghanistan, Petraeus says in Seattle
UPDATE - 01:17 PM
Worst violence since US pullback hits Iraq
UPDATE - 12:31 PM
Afghan blast kills 25, half of them children

Gen. David Petraeus: Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
Watch highlights of General David Petraeus discussing the Iraq and Afghanistan War at the Global Leadership Series sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Tax tips for new independent professionals
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new car? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
nwhomes

Find a new home or condo that fits your lifestyle.
Search New Developments
Builder Directory
- Key lawmakers warn of Boeing no-strike ultimatum
- Hemmed-in Ballard house to rise above
- UW Football | Tailbacks David Freeman, Brandon Johnson ineligible
- US officials eye North Korea in cyber attack
- Nickels gives City Light chief $40,000 bonus
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Coffee City | New "sexpresso" stand coming to Ballard
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Drunken man shocks Spain with his generosity
- Mass. files lawsuit against federal marriage law
896 - Key lawmakers warn of Boeing no-strike ultimatum
595 - Palin's lawyer: no legal troubles driving her out
276 - Health-plan costs soar for individuals
251 - Mariners game thread, July 8
186 - Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules
157 - Teen charged in pit bull attacks ordered held after pleading not guilty
131 - Sheriff's Office: Man not armed when fatally shot by deputy
111 - Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
67 - Wednesday night notes
53
- Hemmed-in Ballard house to rise above
- Key lawmakers warn of Boeing no-strike ultimatum
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Rick Steves' Europe | Beware of new and classic travel scams
- Happy Hour | Ruth's Chris has super rib-eye sliders and quality cocktails
- All You Can Eat | "Top Chef": Seattle chefs tapped for Bravo knife fight in Vegas!
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- All You Can Eat | Oceanaire files bankruptcy, shutters Seattle, former chefs weigh in
- Nickels gives City Light chief $40,000 bonus





