There has long been an idea about how the death penalty would end in the U.S.: the Supreme Court would hand down a sweeping ruling saying it is unconstitutional in all cases. But that is not what is happening. Instead of top-down abolition, we seem to be getting it from the bottom up — governors, state legislatures, judges and juries quietly deciding not to support capital punishment.
There are several reasons we seem to be moving toward de facto abolition of the death penalty. A major one has been the growing number of inmates on death row who have been exonerated — 139 and counting since 1973, according to a list maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center. Even many people who support capital punishment in theory balk when they are confronted with clear evidence that innocent people are being sentenced to death.
Another factor is cost. Money is tight these days, and more attention is being paid to just how expensive death-penalty cases are. A 2008 study found that California was spending $137 million on capital cases — a sizable outlay, particularly since it was not putting anyone to death.
Source: TIME Ideas, Adam Cohen, January 3, 2012
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