from Petra Wendeler of Amnesty International, Group 513, Mobile
When it comes to the death penalty, Alabama has never produced the big headlines that Texas has. However, with the fastest growing death row population per capita in the United States, this might soon change.
Alabama’s capital punishment system is one of the worst in the country, says Elizabeth Semel, former director of the American Bar Association. Unlike most other states, we do not have a public defender system. Clear evidence of racial bias in the sentencing exists here as well, and higher courts have stayed all five of the scheduled executions since June 2000 because either the inmate had no lawyer, was mentally retarded, or didn’t have access to DNA testing. Alabama’s judicial system is clearly in a state of disarray.
Further, a fourth of Alabama’s death row inmates are there because a judge has overridden the jury’s recommendation for life without parole and imposed the death penalty instead. A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ring vs. Arizona, will challenge the constitutionality of such judicial override and could require a re-sentencing of all the state’s death row inmates.
New lethal injection method
In April 2002, the Alabama legislature voted to switch the state’s execution method from Yellow Mama, an old electric chair built in the 1920’s, to lethal injection. Elected leaders fear that the U.S. Supreme Court could declare the electric chair unconstitutional and Alabama might be without a death penalty.
More than 70 inmates on death row are facing deadlines for their appeals process, and about 40 of them have no legal representation. The change in method of execution from electrocution to lethal injection could further contribute to an accelerated rate of executions.
It’s an election year!
During election season, execution rates traditionally go up in Alabama because judges running for office don’t want to be labeled soft on crime. This year, not only judges’ seats but also those of the governor and the attorney general are up for election. All candidates in this year’s election strongly favor capital punishment and have already announced their intention to widen the range of crimes that receive the death penalty. A representative from Mobile admitted recently that speaking out against the death penalty in public meant committing political suicide in Alabama.
Moratorium – now or later?
Even in such a harsh political climate, growing concern about erroneous capital murder convictions and the awareness of basic flaws in the death penalty process have changed public opinion.
In February 2000, a number of organizations came together to form the Alabama Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. One of the Coalition’s main priorities is to support Senator Hank Sanders’ moratorium bill, which would halt executions for three years while the legislature reviews the fairness and impartiality of the death penalty and indigent defense. Although Sen. Sanders’ bill was killed in the Senate last year, he filed the bill again this year. The Coalition will continue to raise public awareness and educate the legislature. With each new development, there are new openings to take advantage of.
