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January 8, 2004
Deadly agenda
Unlike other western industrial nations, the United
States supports capital punishment. Under American jurisprudence,
capital offenses are primarily within the jurisdiction of the
states. Only 12 states out of 50 do not allow capital punishment.
Now there seems to be a federal strategy to impose the death penalty
on states that have rejected it.
The number of federal crimes that call for the death penalty has
been increasing. In 1994, federal law expanded capital punishment
to include carjackings that resulted in murder. Federal crimes,
which often involve offenses in numerous states, provide prosecutors
with a choice of jurisdictions. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft
has called for the death penalty for 93 defendants and has brought
17 of those cases in states with no death penalty.
The rationale for bringing a federal capital case in a state with
no death penalty is to acclimate jurors to adjudging execution
for the defendant. The belief is that after the execution of a
few defendants guilty of heinous crimes, public opposition to
capital punishment in state cases would diminish.
Ashcroft is clearly an avid advocate for capital punishment. It
was reported that he chose Virginia rather than Maryland as the
jurisdiction to try Lee Malvo, the convicted sniper, because Virginia
law contains no reservation about executing minors. The jury in
the Malvo case, as it turns out, was compassionate and sentenced
Malvo to life in prison.
Governor Mitt Romney is a strong advocate of the death penalty
and has appointed a council to draw a bill that will cure the
recent errors in many states about the guilt of the defendant.
Republican conservatives who want capital punishment in Massachusetts
hope that the Gary Lee Sampson case will overcome the opposition.
Sampson committed three cold-blooded murders of victims who were
good samaritans. They stopped for a hitchhiker who was bent on
carjacking. Sampson showed his victims no mercy and the Massachusetts
jury in the federal trial condemned him to death. This verdict
has encouraged death penalty advocates because it proves that
Massachusetts’ juries will, under some circumstances, impose
the death penalty.
Polls have indicated that a majority of state residents support
capital punishment. However, the state Supreme Judicial Court
ruled in 1975 that the death penalty was unconstitutional. A constitutional
amendment authorizing capital punishment approved by voters in
1982 was also overruled by the SJC two years later. Efforts to
re-impose the sentence have failed in the state House of Representatives.
The state death penalty was established in 1898. Between 1901
and 1947, 65 men were executed. The federal death penalty was
established in 1790. Since then 340 persons have been executed,
206 (61 percent) of them black, Native American, or Latino. Capital
punishment has always been a devise to enable those in power to
control minorities.
Romney plans to re-impose capital punishment in Massachusetts.
The black church and political leaders must be prepared to oppose
this effort.
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