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VOICE ONE:
Thirty-eight of the fifty American states have laws permittingthem to execute people found guilty of capital crimes. These crimesinclude murder, kidnapping and other actions that result in thedeaths of others. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. We discussthe debate about capital punishment on our report today on the VOASpecial English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is one of the mostwidely debated issues in the United States today. Opponents say thisdeath sentence is too severe. They say it is often unfair. Otherssay that people who kill should die for their crime.
In nineteen-seventy-two, the Supreme Court of the United Statesbanned executions. The high court based its decision on twoamendments to the Constitution. The court ruled that the deathpenalty was cruel and unusual punishment because of the way thestates enforced it. But the decision left open the possibility thatthe Supreme Court might accept capital punishment in the future. Thedecision meant this could happen if people were executed only forsome crimes, under limited conditions.
VOICE TWO:
The high court ruled on the subject again innineteen-seventy-six. It approved the right of states to make newlaws permitting the death sentence. Many states enacted the newlaws. Their measures satisfied Supreme Court requirements.
More than eight-hundred men and women have been executed in theUnited states since nineteen-seventy-six. Almost three-hundred ofthem were in the state of Texas. Last year, seventy-one people wereexecuted in the United States. Thirty-three of these people died inthe state of Texas.
One study shows that about seventy-percent of Americans supportthe death sentence. But debate is growing. This is especially trueafter recent events in the state of Illinois.
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VOICE ONE:
Since nineteen-seventy-seven, twelve prisoners have been put todeath in Illinois. But courts canceled the punishment of thirteenothers. They did so after considering new evidence.
Three years ago, the governor of Illinois, George Ryan, decidedthe state could take no more chances that it might execute peoplewho were not guilty. He suspended all executions in the state untilthe death penalty system could be studied.
Governor Ryan established a committee of legal experts and othercitizens to do this. After a two-year study, the committee raisedquestions about the fairness of sentencing. It said some prisonerswere given bad legal advice. It also discovered wrongdoing by policeofficers. The committee suggested eighty-five reforms. They includedmeasures to improve collecting and presenting evidence in cases thatinvolved the death penalty.
The group said the death penalty should be ended if these changeswere not made. But Illinois lawmakers have not enacted any of themeasures containing the committee’s proposals.
VOICE TWO:
Mister Ryan left the office of governor earlier this month.Before doing so, he pardoned four men. He said police had torturedthem into falsely admitting guilt. Each man had spent at leasttwelve years waiting to be executed. Such prisoners are kept in aspecial place, called death row. Its conditions are more severe thanthose in other prison areas.
On January eleventh, two days before he left office, GovernorRyan cancelled court orders to execute all one-hundred-sixty-sevenpeople condemned to death in Illinois. He reduced most of thesentences to life in prison. He said the death penalty system inIllinois is not fair.
He said the system cannot separate the innocent from the guilty.Many Americans who oppose capital punishment praised the governor’saction. They said they hope it will influence other states. Manyleaders of foreign countries also praised the action. The executionof criminals continues to be a dispute between the United States andother democratic nations.
VOICE ONE:
A new governor took office in Illinois earlier this month. RodBlagojevich (bla-GOY-vitch) says suspending the executions was amistake. Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine has asked theIllinois Supreme Court to act against ten people whose sentenceswere reduced. Mister Devine says these people should return to deathrow.
Last year, the state of Maryland also suspended executions. Butthe new governor says he will renew the death penalty.
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VOICE TWO:
In recent years, scientific examination of human cells has madelegal evidence far more exact. This D-N-A testing has shown thatsome innocent people have been wrongly found guilty of murder.
About ten years ago, a United States House of Representativescommittee reported about the death sentence. At that time, it saidsixty-eight people had been released from death row because theywere wrongly sentenced. Some organizations that oppose the deathpenalty say more than one-hundred people have been found innocentafter being sentenced to die. A new play called “The Exonerated”tells about six of these people. The play is being produced in NewYork City and several other cities.
VOICE ONE:
Civil rights leaders, university professors and other criticsdenounce the death penalty as cruel. They also say some studies showthat executing killers does not stop other people from committingsimilar crimes. Some studies say government lawyers seek the deathpenalty more often for accused African Americans than for whitepeople. Several studies say the race of the victim is important.They say more black people get the death sentence for killing whitepeople than do black people who kill other blacks.
VOICE TWO:
Ira Robbins is a law professor at the American University inWashington, D-C. He says bad legal representation damages the deathpenalty system. A judge often appoints lawyers to defend poor peopleaccused of capital crimes. But many of these lawyers receive verylow pay. Mister Robbins says they often fail to spend enough time oncapital cases. He says they often do not present evidence that couldhelp the people they are defending.
In addition, courts in some states are far more likely to use thedeath sentence than others. For example, Texas has put to death farmore people than any other state.
VOICE ONE:
President Bush is a former governor of Texas. He supports thedeath penalty. And many law-enforcement officials and other legalexperts also support it.
For example, in Illinois, Cook County State’s Attorney RichardDevine says the criminal justice system needs the death sentence. Hesays executing people found guilty of terrible crimes helps preventothers from doing the same.
Death penalty supporters note that courts work hard to administerjustice. They say the courts have the right to order the punishmentthey believe is correct. Some courts hear cases for weeks, evenmonths, before making a decision.
VOICE TWO:
Death penalty supporters point to the cost of imprisoning someonefor life. Some states pay forty-thousand dollars each year to keep acriminal in prison. They say cost is especially important becausemany people found guilty of murder are young.
Supporters of capital punishment recently have formed groups toresearch its effect. Members include professors, social scientistsand many others.They do not believe that racial prejudice againstAfrican Americans influences sentencing. They also question thenumber of reportedly innocent people freed from death row. Deathpenalty supporters say technical mistakes during their trials savedmany of these accused killers. Many families of murder victims alsosupport the death penalty. They say they suffer because the killersof their loved ones are permitted to live.
VOICE ONE:
The Amnesty International human rights group says most nations inthe world do not use the death penalty. It says the United States ison the wrong side of history on this important human rights issue.The organization has urged all of America’s states to end capitalpunishment. But many legal experts say this will never happen.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced byCynthia Kirk. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for anotherreport about life in the United States on the VOA Special Englishprogram, THIS IS AMERICA.