Death row population at 30-year low
Opponents claim the decline reflects changing public
opinion, but supporters say it's just a matter of numbers
BY LAURA MECKLER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The num
ber of people sentenced to death
reached a 30-year low in 2003, when
the death row population fell for the
third year in a row, the government
reported Sunday.
Some 144 inmates in 25 states
were given the death penalty last
year, 24 fewer than in 2002 and less
than half the average of 297 between
1994 and 2000, according to the Jus
tice Department.
Death penalty opponents say the
report shows how wary the public is
of executions, heightened by public
ity about those wrongly convicted
and concerns about whether the
punishment is administered fairly.
Illinois emptied its death row in 2003
after several inmates were found to
be innocent.
“What we’re seeing is hesitation
on the death penalty, skepticism, re
luctance,” said Richard Dieter, exec
utive director of the Death Penalty
Information Center. “I do think there
is some concern about the death
penalty and it’s reflected in death
sentences from juries. ”
Opponents also point to other
possible reasons, including continu
ing fallout from Supreme Court
decisions requiring that juries be
told life in prison without parole is
an alternative to death.
Dieter said 47 states now offer a
life-without-parole sentence as an
option for at least some convictions,
compared with 30 in 1993.
Supporters doubt the decline sig
nifies a major shift in public opinion
about the death penalty, which is in
effect in 38 states and the federal
justice system.
“I don’t think the numbers mean
a lot, quite frankly,” said Dianne
Clements, president of the victims
advocacy group Justice For All. “I
don’t think it means a change in
death penalty attitudes. I think it
means the numbers change. ”
At the end of last year, 3,374 pris
oners were awaiting execution, 188
fewer than in 2002, according to the
Bureau of Justice Statistics. Illinois ac
counted for 84 percent of the decline,
the result of then-Gov. George Ryan’s
decision to commute the death sen
tences of 167 inmates to life in prison
and to pardon four others.
Nationally, 267 people were re
moved from death row last year. That
was the largest drop since 1976, when
the Supreme Court reinstated the
death penalty, according to the report
by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Iraq: Prime Minister Allawi
defends his decision to strike
Continued from page 1
decision to order the attack on Fal
lujah, saying he decided to strike af
ter security forces arrested “two
very important” terrorist organiza
tions. He did not elaborate.
Allawi said up to 400 insurgents
have been captured, including fight
ers from Syria, Saudi Arabia,
Afghanistan and Morocco, but he
gave no figures.
Despite the ongoing violence,
Allawi ordered Baghdad Internation
al Airport to reopen Sunday and
opened all but one border crossing
with Syria. They were closed under a
state of emergency announced Nov. 7
on the eve of the Fallujah attack.
In Fallujah, U.S. Marines re
claimed the infamous bridge over
the Euphrates River where Iraqis
strung up the charred bodies of two
American contractors in March.
On Sunday, Marine and Army
units were still battling small bands
of militants scattered in buildings
and bunkers across the Sunni
Muslim stronghold.
State budget hole looms
large for 2005-07
THE PROBLEM: State revenue is expected
to be about $1 billion short of funding services
at current levels in the 2005-07 budget.
THE CAUSE: Oregon’s slow economic
recovery isn't bringing irt much new tax
revenue, while costs of services rise because
of inflation and population growth.
THE SOLUTIONS: Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s
proposed budget is expected to set spending
priorities and pay by shifting money around;
taxpayers have defeated the last two tax
increase attempts.
— The Associated Press
Death row’s wake
By the end of 2003, 32 states and the federal
government had executed 885 prisoners
since the Supreme Court reinstated the
death penalty in 1976
miiiiilll
65 inmates -iqo
executed
80
60
40
20
77
'80
’85
’90
'95
'00 '03
During this 27-year period, five
states accounted for two-thirds
of the executions.
States with the most
executions, 1977-2003
Texas
Virginia
Oklahoma
Missouri
Florida
313
■189
Ml 69
■ 61
57
States with capital
punishment
As of December
2003
By race, 1977-2003
White* Black*
Other 13
Hispanic 61
By gender, 1977-2003
Men
Women 10
By method, 1977-2003
Lethal
injection
Lethal gas 11
Electrocution
6c*
fh
Hanging 3
Firing squad 2
□ D.C.
All but 12
states and the
District of
Columbia
authorize the
death penalty.
* Excludes people of
Hispanic origin
SOURCE: Bureau of
Justice Statistics
AP
Ivory Coast: Young Patriots
militia calls for 'human shield'
Continued from page 3
more than year-old cease-fire in the
country’s 2-year-old civil war with
airstrikes on the rebel-held north.
Warplanes bombed a French
peacekeeping post in the north on
Nov. 6, killing nine French peace
keepers and an American aid worker
and plunging the country into chaos.
France wiped out Ivory Coast’s
newly built-up airport on the tar
mac. The retaliation unleashed a vi
olent loyalist uprising, with the
Gbagbo-allied militia Young Patriots
leading looting, burning and attacks
targeting the French.
No deaths have been reported
among French or other non-African
foreigners targeted by the militia.
France says attackers raped several
expatriates.
The Associated Press and hospitals
confirmed at least 17 deaths in the
rioting, all or most among Ivorians.
Gbagbo’s government claims
62 of its supporters were killed,
many of them when French forces
opened fire on anti-French demon
strations in Abidjan.
On Sunday, a few Young Patriots
manned roadblocks around Gbag
bo’s lagoon-side mansion and main
tained a vigil outside state broad
casting offices nearby.
Fearing an overthrow attempt by
France, the Gbagbo-allied militia
have called for a “human shield”
around the two sites until French
troops leave Ivory Coast.
Chirac said Sunday in Marseille
that the 4,000 French peacekeepers
would remain, alongside a more
than 6,000-man U.N. peace force.
Gbagbo late Saturday put hard
liner Col. Maj. Philippe Mangou in
charge of the country’s military. It
was Mangou who oversaw the air
campaign that reopened Ivory
Coast’s civil war and opened the
confrontation with France.
MANIC
Monday
m
I4' 1 topping Pizza
and 2 24 oz. drinks
‘6.99.
0k. Ah. «TM
824 Charnelton OoOOOUb Sun-Wed I lam - lam m
Eugene, OR • 97401 Exp. 11/15/04 Thurs-Sat llam-2am mg