Death Penalty Sentences Down In Texas

There's an interesting thing happening in the state of Texas these days -- something very unusual. It seems that juries are not giving out as many death sentences as they used to. In fact, Texas is now experiencing a 35 year low in sending new inhabitants to Death Row. Here are the death penalty sentences for the last 15 years:

1995...............43

1996...............37

1997...............35

1998...............43

1999...............47

2000...............28

2001...............30

2002...............35

2003...............28

2004...............25

2005...............15

2006...............11

2007...............15

2008...............9

2009...............9

As you can see, the number took a fairly sharp dive in 2005, and hasn't been above 15 since that year. Did something happen in 2005 that made a difference in the number of people being sent to Death Row? Many people say yes. That was the year that Texas passed the law allowing life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prior to 2005, even life sentences for Capital Murder could result in a parole after 35-40 years.

It is believed that juries gave death sentences to people prior to 2005 to assur they would never walk the street again. With the new law guaranteeing no parole, juries suddenly had an option to the death penalty that would also assure the convicted felon would never be released.

The chart above shows the difference between death penalty sentences for the years right before and right after the 2005 law for the five most heavily populated counties in Texas. Tarrant County (Fort Worth) showed a small decline after 2005, while Harris (Houston), Dallas (Dallas) and Bexar (San Antonio) counties showed a significant decline. Travis County (Austin) is a liberal bastion in Texas, and the 2005 law actually resulted in harsher sentences being given there (life w/o parole instead of just life).

I have no problem accepting that the 2005 law has significantly reduced the amount of death sentences. However, some believe there is another cause also. State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville), author of the life w/o parole law, says, "It isn't life without parole that has weakened the death penalty. It is a growing lack of belief that our system is fair."

For several years now, we have been hearing of many people being unjustly convicted -- not only in Texas, but all across the country. Just in Dallas County alone, at least 19 people have been released from prison because DNA has now proved they were innocent.

There is also the case of Todd Willingham, who was executed a few years ago. At least three separate investigations by forensic experts have now shown that he was probably innocent of the crime he was executed for.

Are death penalties down because of a growing awareness of the unfairness of the justice system, or because of the 2005 law giving juries an alternative that would guarantee the person would never be released. I imagine the truth is that both have had an effect.

Whatever the reason, I'm just glad death sentences are down. I've never been comfortable with state-sanctioned killing.