As Amnesty International reported yesterday the African nation of Togo became the 94th country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, and the 15th member of the African Union to do so.
In announcing his government’s plans to push for full repeal of capital punishment at the end of last year, Justice Minister Kokou Tozoun was clear and direct:

“This country has chosen to establish a healthy justice system that limits judicial errors…and guarantees the inherent rights of the individual.  This (new) system is no longer compatible with a penal code that maintains the death penalty and grants the judiciary absolute power with irrevocable consequences.”

The vote for repeal, which passed unanimously in the Togo national assembly, is the latest act in the gradual but unmistakable trend towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty. Though only dimly visible in the U.S., where support for capital punishment is shrinking more slowly, this trend is very clear on a global scale, and it is particularly apparent in Africa. Burundi repealed the death penalty earlier this year, and Mali is reportedly considering abolition as well.

Tonight, a little after 6 PM mountain time, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed into law a bill abolishing the death penalty in his state. After weeks of publicly wrestling with the issue (he had in previous years been a supporter of capital punishment), and after several days of widely soliciting public comment – a hotline the Governor’s office set up resulted in calls coming in 3-1 in favor of abolition – the Governor agreed to strike capital punishment from the books (though the law is not retroactive, and the fate of the two men who currently occupy New Mexico’s death row is unclear).

New Mexico becomes the 15th state in the U.S. to outlaw capital punishment. Curiously, it is also the third “New” state in a row to be moved into the abolitionist column. New York’s death penalty was declared unconstitutional and its death row closed in 2007, and New Jersey abolished its death penalty legislatively, also in 2007.   The only remaining “New” state – New Hampshire – will be having a House floor debate on death penalty abolition on Tuesday, March 24, though in that state, the Governor is not wrestling with the issue at all (at least not publicly), and is unlikely to support any repeal bill.

New Mexico becomes the first Southwestern state to end its experiment with the death penalty.  Until now, abolition has been confined to the Northeast and Upper Midwest (plus Alaska and Hawaii).   Like its fellow “New” states, New Mexico rarely used its death penalty (only 1 execution since 1960 – the other “New” states never did carry out an execution after reinstating their death penalties after 1976). Other states that fit into this pattern include New Hampshire (no executions since 1939), and Kansas (no executions since reinstatement). In both these states, vital abolition efforts are ongoing.  Other states where abolition debates are heating up (Colorado, Montana, Nebraska )have carried out 1, 3 and 3 executions respectively, and Maryland has only carried out 5.

In fact, more than half the states in the country have either abolished the death penalty, or have carried out fewer than 10 executions in the last 30 years. Only 9 states carried out executions last year.

And support for capital punishment continues to dwindle.  This is reflected in the decreasing number of death sentences handed down by juries (111 last year, down from a high of 328 in 1994), and the reduced support for the death penalty in public opinion polls (a May 2006 Gallup poll revealed that Americans are evenly split between preferring the death penalty (47%) or life without parole (48%)).

Exonerations off of death row (there have been 130 since 1973), and other wrongful convictions revealed by DNA testing (there have been over 230 of those), have worn down enthusiasm for executions as the public has become increasingly aware of how mistake-prone our criminal justice and capital punishment systems can be.

Once a third-rail issue in most states, reforming or even repealing the death penalty is now mainstream politics.  Skepticism about capital punishment is making inroads everywhere, even in the South, where the vast majority of executions take place.  Texas juries are doing what juries are doing nationwide, handing down fewer and fewer death sentences (there were 11 in 2008, as compared to 48 back in 1999). And North Carolina, which has carried out 43 executions since reinstatement, had only one death sentence last year.

The U.S. death penalty will not be relegated to the history books any time soon, but as doubts about its usefulness — and doubts about its cost – persist and grow, more states may decide that it’s just not worth it to maintain capital punishment.

Last night, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s press office issued a press release highlighting that phone calls to his hotline (505-476-2225) on the question of repealing the death penalty were running over 3-1 in favor of abolition.  The actual totals were 7169 FOR repeal and 2244 against.  The Governor has until midnight (Mountain Time) tonight to take action.  Stay tuned …

Yesterday, the New Mexico Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-5 in support of HB 285, the bill that repeals New Mexico’s death penalty.  This is the committee that, in the past, has killed death penalty abolition, so in advancing to the full Senate, this bill has gone farther than it ever has before. 

It now only remains for the full Senate to vote (possibly this week) and then for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to sign the legislation into law.  Governor Richardson has expressed at least a willingness to sign the bill, but he could always use your encouragement. 

New Mexico’s legislative session ends next Saturday (March 21), so whatever happens now will happen quickly.

The Maryland Senate this morning voted for a “compromise” on the bill formerly known as the repeal bill.  In this compromise legislation, the death penalty would be restricted to cases where there is either biological or DNA evidence or some type of video evidence (either a video-taped confession or video of the crime itself).  Death sentences could not be obtained solely on the basis of eye-witness testimony.  Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Frosh, who supports repeal, endorsed this legislation, saying that it would “move the ball forward in the right direction.” 

These restrictions, of course, don’t apply retroactively, and Maryland may one day end up executing one or more of the five men currently on Maryland’s death row. 

The compromise bill also doesn’t address the costs of the death penalty, and it certainly doesn’t address the conclusion of the Commission on Capital Punishment report that the death penalty process is more harmful for victims’ families than alternatives.  The Commission reached this conclusion by a near-unanimous 20-1 vote. 

So, Maryland’s death penalty will remain on the books, and Marylanders will continue paying for it financially, and victims’ families will continue to have to endure a process that all sides have agreed is more painful.

This afternoon, the Maryland death penalty repeal bill was amended on the Senate floor, by a 25-22 vote, so that the death penalty would still be available, except in cases that rely exclusively on witness testimony (as in Troy Davis’ case).  A second amendment to restrict the death penalty to cases with DNA evidence or taped confessions also passed.  Thus, the death penalty abolition bill became a death penalty restriction bill.

Then, confusion began to take over.  Amendments to the original bill continued to be proposed, even though they did not seem to fit with the new version.  An amendment which would have further restricted the death penalty to killings in prison was submitted, then pulled.  Some seemed unaware that the first amendment had already taken repeal off the table.  A move to send the bill back to its committee and let them sort it out failed.  Ultimately, the Senate adjourned and will reconvene at 9 am tomorrow, when more amendments will likely be submitted.

By procedural votes of 25-22 and then 24-23, the Maryland Senate brought the death penalty repeal bill to the floor where, sometime this afternoon or evening, it will be debated and amendments will be offered.  After this morning’s voting it was decided that they would “play it by ear,” so there is no formal time for the debate to resume.  Audio of Senate proceedings is available online.

Former President Jimmy Carter is the latest to weigh in on the death penalty repeal debate going on in New Mexico.  The AP reported that he and his wife Rosalyn wrote a letter to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson encouraging him to back abolition of the death penalty.  Referring to the package of legislation that pairs a death penalty repeal bill with two bills to support victims’ families, the letter encourages Governor Bill Richardson to endorse “this comprehensive and visionary approach.” 

According to a press release issued by the Carter Center, the letter praises “New Mexico’s leadership regarding the death penalty and the rights of crime victims.” The bills that support victims’ families include HB 211, which provides funds for families to attend court proceedings, and HB 284, which provides reparations for the children of murder victims.  Carter noted that enacting all three of these bills into law would “show states that struggle with these important issues a positive way to deal with them.”

Indeed it would, and everyone should encourage Governor Richardson to take the lead in turning New Mexico’s “visionary approach” into a reality.

UPDATE:  The New Mexico House of Representatives passed the death penalty repeal bill, by a vote of 40-28.

Today the New Mexico House of Representatives will be debating and possibly voting on a bill to abolish the death penalty (HB285).   This is but one of a stream of bills to repeal or limit the death penalty under consideration across the country.

Yesterday, the New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee held hearings on bills to abolish the death penalty (HB556) or conduct a study (HB520) of its flaws.  Also yesterday, hearings were held on an abolition bill in Washington state (SB5476). And tomorrow or Friday, the Senate in Montana is expected to vote on an abolition bill (SB236).  A week from today, the much anticipated Senate committee hearing on the Maryland abolition bill (SB279) will take place.

With the exception of Washington, these are all states where death penalty abolition was expected to be given serious consideration, and those expectations are clearly being realized.  Other states, like Washington, Kansas (where Republican Senator Carolyn McGinn filed an abolition bill (SB208)) and Colorado (where a bill to repeal the death penalty and use the money saved to solve cold cases (HB09-1274)) have also begun to have serious discussions about ending the death penalty, primarily for economic reasons.  In Missouri, where lethal injection and other snafus have brought executions to a halt in what was once a very active death penalty state, over 60 co-sponsors, including at least 13 Republicans, have endorsed a bill to establish an official moratorium on executions (HB484).

There are notable exceptions to this apparent trend.  Executions continue in Texas at their usual high rate, and the Virginia legislature has, once again, passed a bill to expand the death penalty (HB2358 and SB961) to include those involved in murders who do not actually pull the trigger.  (If history is any guide, the Governor will once again veto this legislation.)

But, all in all, important debates about the wisdom of capital punishment are occurring in a larger number of states, and the slow, steady drift away from support for the death penalty seems to be continuing.

Today, the first important committee hearings on state abolition bills will be held: one in New Mexico (HB285) and one in Nebraska (LB306).  Nebraska legislators will also be considering a bill to introduce lethal injection as the method of execution (LB36), since Nebraska’s sole method of state killing, the electric chair, was declared unconstitutional last year. 

Meanwhile, the Maryland bill repealing capital punishment has also been introduced in the Senate (SB279), and there appear to be serious discussions on how to break the logjam that has held this bill up in committee in the past, with even some death penalty supporters saying that it is important that this issue get a hearing in front of the full Senate.

Stay tuned …