The Death Penalty in 2009

Last year was a pretty good one for death penalty abolitionists. The number of executions in the United States - 38 - was an all-time low.  Reported global executions also dropped. New Jersey marked the one-year anniversary of the day it abolished capital punishment, and most observers agreed that the world hadn't ended without the threat of death in Jersey courtrooms.

What will 2009 hold?

Well, there's good and bad news. First, the good. Movements to abolish capital punishment are gaining momentum in several states.

A report late last year in Maryland called for lawmakers to end executions, and there is a real chance it will happen this year. Take action now to tell Maryland lawmakers you support ending capital punishment.

California has 667 people on death row and has executed 13 in the last three decades. Amidst a crippling budget crisis and arguably the worst prison overcrowding in the country, the state is seeking to spend $400 million on a state-of-the-art death row. Voices are rising statewide to end the practice, from a police chief who says "the risk of a mistake is too great" to judges, a former warden and the families of victims.

A Montana church association called on state lawmakers this week to end the death penalty, and Washington state's top medical corrections official resigned just before Christmas, saying it is unethical for him or his staff to participate in executions.

On the flip side, one Alaskan lawmaker is hoping to reinstate the death penalty this year. And, shocker, he has the support of our good old friend, Sarah Palin.

So things look sunny, in the lower 48 at least, for the chance of some real death penalty progress in 2009. But what about executions? That's where the news is not so good.

There were 37 executions in all of 2008, but there are already 26 scheduled for the next three months, including Curtis Moore tonight in Texas and James Callahan tomorrow in Alabama. The Death Penalty Information Center predicts that 2009 might see more executions than last year.

It's up to us to keep the pressure on to abolish the death penalty - or at least advocate for moratoria - nationwide. Public opinion is moving steadily against the practice, and America is the only democracy consistently in the top five countries in terms of numbers of executions. Tell your lawmakers today that you want a change in 2009. The time is right.