The American public's opinion on the death penalty has been changing steadily in the past 17 years. A 2011 Gallup Poll showed that 61 percent of people in the country favor capital punishment, down from 80 percent in 1994.
A majority of Americans still believe that capital punishment is a justified and proportionate option for those who commit the most heinous premeditated crimes. But they also believe that if the state is going to exact a punishment from which there is no turning back, the criminal justice system must be as fair as humanly possible.And when jurors are given an effective alternative to a sentence of death -- life without the possibility of parole -- they use it.The Death Penalty Information Center reported last week that death sentences in this country had declined by about 75 percent since 1996, when 315 people received capital sentences for their crimes. Executions nationwide, according to the center, decreased by 56 percent since 1999 to 78 in 2011.In Texas, executions dropped this year to their lowest number since 1996, with only 13 people being put to death, half the number executed four years ago. Those figures are included in the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's latest report, "Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2011: The Year in Review."The debate over capital punishment remains contentious in this country, although it hasn't always been as noisy in Texas as in other states. It should be. This state has wrestled with issues of competent legal representation for those accused of capital crimes as well as the former policy of executing those who were mentally ill or were teenagers at the time of their offense.It took U.S. Supreme Court intervention to alter some of those practices.Since 2005, Texas jurors have been presented a sentencing option of life without parole. It took several legislative sessions to finally pass the law, but it has made a significant difference in the number of capital sentences being handed down.Only 23 counties of the 254 in Texas have levied death sentences in the last five years, with Tarrant County imposing only four. Dallas County had seven; Harris and Travis counties handed down nine and four, respectively.There is a history of arbitrary application of capital punishment in Texas, along with an inconsistent use of the penalty from county to county. The state struggled with adequate legal representation for the accused as well as access to DNA testing when inmates claimed that it would establish their innocence. For those reasons, the Star-Telegram Editorial Board called in 2001 for a moratorium on executions so the state could conduct a crucial systematic examination of the process.It's a review that should never have an end date. As long as the state continues the practice of execution in the name of the people, diligent scrutiny of the criminal justice system must continue.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
