Posted on 03/13/2004 5:44:19 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
A new study softens Texas' image as the nation's death penalty capital, finding the state doles out death sentences less often than even Oregon, a state better known for approving assisted suicide than for demanding capital punishment.
Figures in this month's Journal of Empirical Legal Studies show Texas imposed death penalties in 2 percent of murder cases that had an arrest — just below the national average and slightly behind Oregon, which ranked No. 15 among the 31 states with more than 10 inmates on death row.
By comparing death sentences with solved murder cases between 1977 and 1999, the study highlights what's known by close observers but rarely penetrates public perception:
Texas' relatively bustling death row reflects its vast population and high murder rate more than anything peculiar to the state, like a hang-em-high cowboy heritage.
"If you ask anyone, 'What state has the highest death sentence rate?' They'll say Texas, even though that's wrong," said Theodore Eisenberg, one of three Cornell University professors who authored the report.
Texas ranks 16th in condemning 2 percent of murderers to die, while Nevada and Oklahoma top the list, handing death sentences to about 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of convicted killers.
Texas comes nearer to earning its stern reputation by executing inmates at a faster-than-average rate, but it's still not the swiftest in the country.
However, the study didn't examine how readily states administer lethal injections. Its figures tally death sentences handed down, not actual executions.
By adding homicide arrests to the equation, the article pushes past the raw numbers so often dominated by Texas.
For instance, federal records show more than one-third of the nation's 820 executions between 1973 and 2002 occurred within the Walls Unit at Huntsville.
But, by lumping Texas' 254 counties together, the Cornell professors also blur differences between different parts of the state.
Some scholars said Texas isn't uniformly moderate when it comes to death penalty practices. Instead, the state is an amalgamation of counties with varying opportunities and appetites for capital punishment.
"It's being used very frequently in some places in Texas and infrequently or not at all in most places," said James S. Liebman, a Columbia University law professor and an author of a 2002 study that also contrasted murder rates with death sentences.
Cornell's Professor Eisenberg said he's working on another study that will review death sentences at county levels. Until that's complete, what goes on in Texas appears open to debate.
Some observers believe that, though Texas as a whole may be moderate when it comes to seeking the death penalty, Harris County stands out.
"You dilute the distinctiveness of Harris County by grouping it with Kermit County and Hidalgo County and Montgomery County and all these counties that have much lower death sentencing rates per homicide," said David Dow, a University of Houston law professor who also represents death row inmates.
Dow said his own examination found Houston has sent more than its share of the state's murderers to death row, while Eisenberg questioned that conclusion.
Both professors, however, agreed with the findings of Liebman's 2002 study, which reported Houston sought the death penalty in 1.9 percent of homicides.
That would put the city on par with Texas taken as a whole.
But, compared with other cities with more than 100 homicides, only Phoenix and Philadelphia more often issued death sentences.
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mrobbins@express-news.net
Criminal Homicide Note: sec. 19.02 and 19.03
foreverfree
Damn. If public hangings would prevent even one homicide, they would be justified.
Things ought to improve once every Texas county has its own executioner.
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