The Great American Execution, And Last Meals

“The death penalty is no more effective a deterrent than life imprisonment… It is also evident that the burden of capital punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant and the underprivileged members of society.”
— United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

A recent issue of Mother Jones has a short piece on the last meals that inmates on death row have requested. Although requests can be denied (for things such as tobacco products or chewing gum), inmates generally have free reign of what to eat before they are systematically executed. Although interesting stuff in and of itself, the article included photos of the meals.

Harry Charles Moore, age 56, executed by Oregon, 5/16/97

Jeffery Allen Barney, age 28, executed by Texas, 4/16/86

Donald Jay Miller, age 37, executed by Arizona, 11/8/00

John William Rook, age 27, executed by North Carolina, 9/19/86

Larry Wayne White, age 47, executed by Texas, 5/22/97

Ricky Lee Sanderson, age 38, executed by North Carolina, 1/30/98

Karla Faye Tucker, age 38, executed by Texas, 2/3/98

Stacey Lamont Lawton, age 31, executed by Texas, 11/14/00

Velma Margie Barfield, age 52, executed by North Carolina, 11/2/84

Timothy McVeigh, age 33, executed by U.S. government in Indiana, 6/11/01

“When Arkansas executed Rickey Ray Rector back when Bill Clinton was governer, the mentally impaired inmate famously set aside half of his last meal-a peacan pie-for after the execution.”

Eight hundred and seventy-nine people have been executed in the United States since 1976. Three hundred and ninety-nine in Texas and Virginia alone.

Currently pending executions in the United States:
Scheduled – Name – State
2/12/2004 – Bobby Hopkins – Texas
2/17/2004 – Cameron Willingham – Texas
2/17/2004 – Norman Cleary – Oklahoma
2/26/2004 – Hung Thanh Le – Oklahoma (foreign national)
2/27/2004 – George Page – North Carolina
3/4/2004 – Yokamon Hearn – Texas
3/4/2004 – Jose Busanet – Pennsylvania
3/9/2004 – David Brown – Oklahoma
3/9/2004 – Steve Hutchinson – Pennsylvania
3/18/2004 – Brian Cherrix – Virginia
3/30/2004 – Edward Capetillo – Texas (juvenile offender)
3/30/2004 – Willy Wickline – Ohio
4/13/2004 – Michael Rosales – Texas
4/29/2004 – Anzel Jones – Texas (juvenile offender)
5/18/2004 – Kelsey Patterson – Texas
6/3/2004 – Sedley Alley – Tennessee
6/10/2004 – James Henderson – Texas
6/23/2004 – Efrain Perez – Texas (juvenile offender)
6/24/2004 – Raul Villarreal – Texas (juvenile offender)

“The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, provides for the total abolition of the death penalty but allows states parties to retain the death penalty in time of war if they make a reservation to that effect at the time of ratifying or acceding to the Protocol.”

“Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ['European Convention on Human Rights'] concerning the abolition of the death penalty, adopted by the Council of Europe in 1982, provides for the abolition of the death penalty in peacetime; states parties may retain the death penalty for crimes ‘in time of war or of imminent threat of war’.”

“The Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty, adopted by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States in 1990, provides for the total abolition of the death penalty but allows states parties to retain the death penalty in wartime if they make a reservation to that effect at the time of ratifying or acceding to the Protocol.”

“The Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ['European Convention on Human Rights'] concerning the abolition of the death penalty, adopted by the Council of Europe in 1982, provides for the abolition of the death penalty in peacetime; states parties may retain the death penalty for crimes “in time of war or of imminent threat of war”. Any state party to the European Convention on Human Rights can become a party to the Protocol.”

Source

Since 1976, every year three more countries have added their names to the list of countries which have abolished the death penalty. Nowadays, it is not practised by the majority of nations around the world. The United Nations Human Rights Commission has passed a resolution calling on the remaining countries to restrict the number of executions, and to work towards abolishing the death penalty.

Yet the US continues to pursue an insolent policy of sentencing to death a staggering amount of people. As of December 2002, over three thousand and seven hundred men and women were on death row across the country. The United States, China, Saudi Arabi and Iran account for over 80% of worldwide recorded executions. Additionally, only four countries are known to have executed juvenile offenders since 2000: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Iran and the United States. Since then, Pakistan has abolished the death penalty for juvenile offenders, and the DCR has imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that the death penalty works as an effective deterrent. “A New York Times survey, released in September 2000, found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 percent to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.” “FBI data showed that 10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average. “

“An examination of homicides in Los Angeles before and after the execution of Robert Harris in 1992, California’s first execution in 25 years, revealed slight increases in homicides during the eight months following Harris’ execution. “

“A comparison of murder rates and rates of sub-types of murder (felony-murder; stranger robbery-related murder; stranger non-felony murder; argument-related murder) in Oklahoma between 1989 and 1991 uncovered no evidence of a deterrent effect. Researchers did find a significant increase in stranger killings (both felony and non-felony) after Oklahoma resumed executions after a 25-year moratorium.”

“Researchers Keith Harries and Derral Cheatwood studied differences in homicides in 293 counties that were paired based on factors such as geographic location and demographic and economic variables. The pairs shared a contiguous border, but differed on use of capital punishment. The authors found no support for a deterrent effect. They did find higher violent crime rates in death penalty counties.”

Source

“I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent. And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point.”
— Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, January 2000

Since 1977, an overwhelming majority – 80% – of executions have been for the killing of white victims, even though homicidal rates are similar for both whites and minorities. In 1990, the US General Accounting Office found, “a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty.” The study concluded that a defendant was several times more likely to be sentenced to death if the murder victim was white. A 1998 study of the city of Philadelpia concluded that – even taking into consideration case differences – the odds of recieving the death sentence were four times higher if the defendant was black.

The death penalty is also more expensive than life imprisonment. A New York study concluded that the cost of an execution was three times that of life imprisonment. In Florida, each execution costs the state $3.2 million, while life imprisonment runs about $600,000. Other studies in California, North Carolina, Maryland and Kansas have all concluded that the death sentence is much more costly than life imprisonment.

“Elimination of the death penalty would result in a net savings to the state of at least several tens of millions of dollars annually, and a net savings to local governments in the millions to tens of millions of dollars on a statewide basis.”
— Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the California Legislature, Sept. 9, 1999