Editorials

For proponents of the death penalty, the end of last year and beginning of this one has been difficult. Before examining the facts, a disclaimer: The editorial board of The Anniston Star is a longtime opponent of the death penalty, particularly because of the inequitable way it is applied. To say nothing of the life-and-death moral quandary it puts a state and its citizenry in.

With that out of the way, here's what's going on.

In December, New Jersey banned capital punishment, the first state to do so in 42 years.

Three more death-row inmates were exonerated in 2007, joining more than 100 whose trip to the death chambers has been halted thanks to DNA testing.

Executions fell to their lowest level in 13 years.

Criminal convictions resulting in death sentences last year were off by 60 percent when compared with 1999.

The Supreme Court agreed to rule on whether lethal injections constituted cruel and unusual punishment, a move which created an unofficial moratorium on executions for the second half of '07.

Something, as the song says, is happening here.

Well, not everywhere and certainly not in Alabama.

The Star's Markeshia Ricks recently outlined how Alabama is considering moving against the trend of fewer state executions.

When the next session of the Alabama Legislature begins Tuesday, it will consider a bill that would apply the death penalty to child rapists.

Rep. Randy Wood, R-Anniston, and Rep. Steve Hurst, D-Munford, are among those lawmakers hoping to add to the list of crimes worthy of capital punishment.

The criminals they target are certainly worthy of punishment. No one is arguing that point. Those who would commit sex crimes against young children are sick, worthy of being removed from society, and permanently locked away if rehabilitation and treatment eludes them.

But the death penalty offers no margin for mistakes, much less rehabilitation. One needs look no further than one county in Texas where 15 former inmates have been cleared by DNA testing since 2001. Though those 15 were convicted of less than capital offenses, we can see the unreasonable burden the death penalty places on states that decide to implement the ultimate punishment in a system administered by a flawed human system.