In this weeks death penalty related news, I noticed that Wisconsin is having a referrendum over the possibility of reinstating the Death Penalty in their state. It's been 150 years since they've had the death penalty on the books. This is interesting if for no other reason than many people (including myself) enjoy arguing that the evolving standards suggest the public desire for the death penalty is decreasing as years go by. Looking at Connecticut and Wisconsin seems to suggest (although, not really prove) that this hypothesis could be incorrect.
Typically it tends to be counties and states that push for the death penalty in more marginal cases than federal prosecutors. It's vary rare that the US attorneys will go for the death penalty on cases that it is an option. This week is different from that trend too. Federal prosecutors in Oklahoma will seek the death penalty, while a county prosecutor in Washington State will not seek the death penalty against a father who killed his son of 15 months.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Death Penalty Dichotomy
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