Death row to justice: a story of America’s capital punishment

Death Row remains the most controversial issue among academics, politicians and members of the public, but the crippling demand placed on America’s Public Defenders puts too many at risk of wrongful imprisonment and even execution. This is a crisis of morality and finances due to the staggering bills and a lack of results.

America as of 2017, holds approximately 2.3 million incarcerated within state prisons, a total of 6.8 million incarcerated, on bail or under state probation. Since 1601, the death penalty has been utilised as a means of capital punishment in thirty-three of the states which hold it as its maximum penalty. Between then and 1976, approximately 15,787 prisoners on death row, who after residing there for anywhere from one to ten years, were put to death via Lethal Injection, Hanging, Gas chamber and firing squad.

This was interrupted by a Supreme Court case in 1972 (Furman v. Georgia), which observed that the death penalty was being used in a way deemed unconstitutional according to the provision of the Eighth amendment protecting against cruel and unusual punishment. With the case of Gregg V. Georgia in 1976, the death penalty was resumed with a closer observation by a federal regulatory body. Within death row, a population of 2,900 still incarcerated still awaiting execution to date.

Despite organisations such as Human Rights Watch campaigning against misconduct and capital punishment within the US: overall approval ratings stand at 60% for the death penalty as a poll in 2016 concludes. Research by Human Rights Watch and the Death Penalty Information Centre have outlined the key concerns over sentencing for capital punishment. As was the case for Ricky Jackson, who in 1977 spent two years of his thirty-nine years in prison on death row, Jackson being exonerated in 2014 on account of witness intimidation. The experience profoundly shaped his perspective of the criminal justice, and capital punishment systems, who went on to file a lawsuit in 2014. According to the Guardian in 2014: at least 4.1% of those sentenced to death in the USA may be completely innocent; this would mean that more than eight thousand individuals on death row from the 1970’s may have been wrongfully convicted or executed.

One such issue comes from the continuing issue of funding for capital punishment across the states; recent findings suggest that since 1976, California has spent four billion dollars, roughly three hundred million dollars for each criminal sentenced to death in the state. The issue of expense is found within each of the states with an active death penalty; Oregon state found that the average cost of a death sentence in contrast to life sentencing is almost three to one in expense to the taxpayer. The average costs behind any justice across the US seeking the death penalty ranged in excess of three million dollars placing strain upon taxpayers as well as the state.

Amid concerns over prosecution as well as the disparity between cost of sentencing for capital punishment, the issue of the impact of the death penalty as a deterrent to severe crimes occurring is one that is also raised. The issue of effectiveness is a recurrent discussion, the 2009 Deterrence study from the University of Colorado demonstrated that, despite a majority population approving of the death penalty: 88% of the surveyed population believed it had no effect in deterring crime, moreover, the prescription of capital punishment was believed to be used in order to appear ‘tough on crime’. Throughout the death penalty’s history as a means of punishment, this correlation between usage and criminal deterrence proves difficult to prove outright.

The financial demands placed on these states and their continuing use of capital punishment are demonstrated, not just via the taxpayer, but through the access to legal assistance; a study in Kansas found that the continued funding necessary for the death penalty elongated trials anywhere from months to years, with costs to the state of one hundred and seventeen thousand dollars at least for defence and trial costs, placing additional strains on local legal systems. The greater economic strain is demonstrated as well for individuals who face these capital charges, 80-90% of which had no means of affording legal representation, thereby impacting the legal process.

One of the issues that arose from the difficulty of some in representation in court led to the landmark ruling of Gideon v Wainwright in 1963; this federal case resulted in the extension of legal representation to those who financially could not afford a lawyer in a conventional manner. Public Defenders, as they are known became widely needed for this population of indignant felons. The scale of cases taken on by Public Defenders fluctuates from state to state; New York in April 2017 set a limit of 150 felonies or 400 misdemeanours per year, however, states such as Florida exceeded that figure; with 2,750 cases taken by the Public defence team. Missouri had witnessed their public defenders take on 3,300 cases in 2015, over three times the legal amount, With Tennessee: six attorneys took on ten thousand cases in a year.

Missouri in particular, having had a request for budget increases rejected in 2014, was subject to 82,000 cases in the same year. In states such as Missouri, more than 85% of its cases are represented by public defenders and receive 2.5% of state funding, roughly equating to $5.3 billion out of an annual spending of $200 billion in the judicial budget. With a diminished budget and a rising caseload, public defence attorneys find themselves limited to anywhere as little as 10 minutes to prepare and argue a case resulting in states such as in California, where the ACLU has filed a class action lawsuit over its violation of the sixth amendment, this too is the case within Missouri; with a lawsuit against the state for its negligence resulting in failure to uphold amendment rights and representing a ‘constitutional crisis’ to the American judicial system.

The Public Defence service of the USA finds itself in a state of terminal overstretch, with its supply of lawyers grossly short of what is demanded by a drastically under-funded legal system and a population long since dependent upon them as a means of fair representation In a court of law. As well as this, the very real danger posed to individuals within states which still practice the death penalty Is one which could lead to unnecessary years in prison, or even worse: a place on death row.