The End of the Death Penalty in the US?

 

Is the tide turning against the death penalty in the States. Note that I said States and not America as it appears that the Federal Government is still as vindictive as ever.

But take this article by Russ Feingold in The Chicago Tribune for today

The effort to abolish the death penalty got a boost recently when the Tribune ran its outstanding March 25 editorial calling for an end to capital punishment.

The Tribune's words are yet another sign of critical momentum that has been building across the country, as more and more states follow Illinois' lead and re-examine the death penalty. Maryland and Virginia, for instance, have both elected governors who personally oppose the death penalty.

In Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley has said that he would sign legislation to repeal that state's death penalty. In Virginia, Gov. Tim Kaine recently vetoed bills that would have expanded the list of crimes eligible for capital punishment.

The biggest obstacle to abolishing the death penalty doesn't lie in states like Maryland and Virginia, but in neighboring Washington, where the federal government is headed in the other direction. As states have re-examined the death penalty, Congress has done little to address concerns about putting innocent people to death, and has done nothing to address concerns about racial bias in the death penalty system.

Instead Congress has steadily expanded the list of crimes eligible for the federal death penalty, and the federal government has continued to pursue more and more federal death penalty prosecutions, including in jurisdictions that do not themselves have capital punishment.

As more and more state governments question the death penalty, and the Tribune and others speak out about the injustice of this practice, Congress should follow suit. It's far past time that Congress took the lead in questioning, and ultimately abolishing, the death penalty.

Let's build on the growing momentum nationwide to end capital punishment and restore fairness and integrity to our criminal justice system.

The author is the Democratic Senator for Wisconsin.