Atlanta, GA– America is executing people at double the rate compared to last year, according to the Economist. Their recent article states this trend is attributed to the rise of Republican political ambitions. President Donald J. Trump encouraged states to “clear out their death rows.”
According to the Department of Justice, death row is where people who have been sentenced to death will live until their punishment can be carried out.
The Economist notes an increase in frequency of death caravans and that correctional officers are struggling to maintain the operations of the death penalty. Their article states, “Each time the state puts someone to death, the caravan makes the two-hour drive up the coast. Last year they came once. This year they have come 17 times.”
The Economist recognizes that wrongful convictions are common to death row inmates. Organizations, such as the Innocence Project, share the stories of falsely convicted people and operate to fund DNA testing and research that free falsely convicted inmates.
According to the Department of Justice, “More than three-fourths of the studies that found a race of defendant effect found that black defendants were more likely to receive the death penalty,” as race and bias impact what communities are being executed at disproportionate rates.
The Economist reported that people don’t believe that the death penalty deters crime. According to Amnesty International, “Many crimes are committed on the spur-of-the-moment, leaving little opportunity for potential punishments to influence whether the crime is committed in the first place as criminals do not believe they will be caught and held to account.”
According to The Economist the increase in death sentencing is tied to politics. For example, “Ron DeSantis, Florida’s lame-duck governor with higher-office ambitions, ramped up executions while running for president, then paused them once he dropped out.”
The Economist claims “the court’s retreat from policing the death penalty has emboldened states to pursue executions they once wouldn’t have and to be more ‘experimental’ in how they kill.” The courts are more relaxed in what they deem cruel and unusual when it comes to lethal punishments, and are less likely to intervene if a person is obviously suffering.
The Economist portrays trends in Republican conservatism are increasing the rate at which the United States participates in the death penalty. Citizens’ 8th Amendment rights and opportunity for justice decrease as incarcerated individuals become a tool to gain political popularity.
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