Charleston Church Shooter accepts life in prison plea bargain to avoid death penalty trial

So why would Dylan Roof want to avoid the death penalty?  Could it be that he preferred life in prison to the death penalty?  Could it be that the threat of the death penalty is something that the killers fear more than life in prison?  How much money also did this plea bargain save?  A trial like that would have been costly.  From the Washington Post:

Dylann Storm Roof, the high school drop out and white supremacist who shot and killed nine black parishioners at a historic Charleston church in 2015, pleaded guilty Monday to state charges stemming from the massacre as part of a deal with prosecutors to spend the rest of his life in prison to avoid a second death-penalty trial. . . .

Gallup: Percent of Americans who believe that death penalty is morally acceptable essentially unchanged since 2001

Gallup implies that support is waning.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 8-11. On April 29, an Oklahoma death row inmate given a lethal injection appeared to suffer for an extended period of time until finally dying of a heart attack. That incident led to the postponement of a second execution scheduled in Oklahoma that day and raised questions about the methods used to execute prisoners. 

The case did not fundamentally alter Americans' perceptions of the death penalty, however, with a solid majority viewing it as morally acceptable. This percentage is similar to the 60% who say they favor the death penalty as punishment for murder in Gallup's October update. 

But the longer-term trends reveal that Americans have become less supportive of the death penalty. Gallup first asked the moral acceptability question in 2001, with an average 66% saying it was acceptable between 2001 and the peak in 2006. Over the last three years, the percentage saying it is morally acceptable has averaged 60%. . . .

The Gallup poll was right after Oklahoma "botched" effort.  Another Angus Reid poll showed record support after Boston Bombing. 

78 per cent of respondents (+8 since September 2011) supportthe possibility of prosecutors relying on the deathpenalty for murder cases in the United States.
The poll was conducted after the Boston Marathon bombings and concluded before the massive manhunt that resulted in the arrest of one of the suspects.
Respondents in the South (80%) and West (79%) are more likely to endorse capital punishment, along with supporters of the Republican Party (86%). . . . 

But if you look at the average since 1936, the current poll numbers are almost the same as the average from 1936 through 2012.

Newest piece at National Review: "Another Round in the Death-Penalty Debate," Correcting mistakes in the Washington Post

On Sunday in the Washington Post, Radley Balko attacked a recent piece that CPRC's John Lott had on the death penalty.  John Lott's piece that responds to Balko starts this way:

The death-penalty debate goes on. After a piece that I wrote about the debate last week, National Review’s Charles C. W. Cooke wrote a response, followed later by a much stronger attack by the Washington Post’s Radley Balko.
Cooke’s response was philosophical and drew a distinction between killing someone in self-defense and using the death penalty, though given the evidence that the death penalty deters murders and thus saves lives, that distinction isn’t as clear as he thinks.
Balko, a blogger/reporter for the Washington Post, based his reply on empirical evidence. He puts a lot of faith in studies by death-penalty opponents. Let me address his major points in turn:
-- “It’s important to factor in the severity of the crime. And when a black defendant and a white defendant are convicted of murders with similar aggravating circumstances, the black defendant is significantly more likely to get the death penalty.”
Over the period from 1977 to 2011, the rate of aggravating circumstances for murders was higher for black defendants for murder than it was for whites. Yet, despite that and with whites accounting for fewer murders than blacks (whites commit about 46.8 percent of all murders committed by whites and blacks), whites account for 57 percent of the white and black prisoners sentenced to death for murder.
Finally, even after being sentenced to death at a higher rate than blacks, whites on death row over the decades have had a significantly higher probability of actually being executed than blacks. Over the years from 1977 to 2011, 65 percent of the total number of whites and blacks who have been executed have been white.
This last point is particularly important, since everyone on death row has been convicted of murder with aggravating circumstances. If there is any bias, it is in the opposite direction that Balko claims.
-- “DNA testing has shown that the criminal justice system is flawed — more flawed than most of the public had probably thought. Lott tries to dismiss these concerns, and it’s here that his statistics really get screwy. . . .  I don’t know where Lott gets the number 34. I can’t find it anywhere at the Innocence Project link he provides. The actual number of people convicted of murder who were later exonerated by DNA testing is 104.” . . .

Is there even one death penalty execution where the DNA shows that a mistake has been made?

Despite the concerns about possible errors in the death penalty and the use of DNA evidence, one thing is very clear: there is not a single case where DNA shows that an innocent person was put to death.  From the Crime Prevention Research Center:

The one modern case that death penalty opponents point to that comes closest to meeting this claim involves Claude Jones Texas, who was convicted in 1989 and executed in 2000. Two pieces of evidence were involved in his trial: the testimony of two accomplice who planned the robbery with Jones and who provided him with the gun used in the killing as well as a hair sample at the scene that turned out to be someone else’s. The fact that the hair at the scene was someone else’s would have meant that piece of evidence could no longer be used to prove that Jones actually went into the store, but the failure of the DNA test to match Jones to the hair does not prove that Jones didn’t do the killing because some many people visited the store it could have been from someone who didn’t commit the murder. The issue here is whether there was still enough evidence with the witness’ testimony and the gun to place Jones at the scene of the crime. . . .

The CPRC has useful discussion on the over all error rate for death penalty cases available here. 

Newest piece at National Review: "The Shaky Case against the Death Penalty"

My newest piece starts this way:

After the recent mishandled execution in Oklahoma, in which the murderer ended up dying from a heart attack, death-penalty opponents pounced.  

Not surprisingly, the Sunday-morning talk shows focused on whether we should keep the death penalty. ABC News’s This Week was hardly a balanced panel, with four members wanting to abolish the death penalty and the fifth wanting “maybe a halfway point between eliminating it” and what we currently have. 

Let’s analyze the three main arguments made on ABC against the death penalty. 

1. “Support for the death penalty has fallen from 80 percent in 1993 [actually 1994] to 60 percent in 2013.” 

Has support for the death penalty fallen since 1994? Sure, but what ABC News didn’t explain was that the years chosen were carefully cherry-picked. Support for the death penalty in 1994 was the highest ever recorded, according to Gallup. But consider instead all the 43 surveys from 1936 to 2012. Those surveys showed that an average of 63.8 percent of Americans supported the death penalty. Sixty percent in 2013 is down slightly from the average over the preceding 76 years, but it was hardly an earth-shattering change. . . .

Some information on the death penalty

Here is a summary of research on the deterrence effect of the death penalty from my book Freedomnomics (2007).  The book has a detailed discussion of these papers for those who would like to learn more about this issue.

Click on the figure to make it larger.

Support for Death Penalty in U.S. Surges to 86 percent

I know that this survey release says that support for the death penalty is at 78 percent, but if I add together the 64 percent who say that it is "sometimes" appropriate and the 22 percent who say that it is "always" appropriate, that comes to 86 percent.  From Angus Reid Public Opinion:

 The proportion of Americans who favor capital punishment increased dramatically this month, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.  

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,008 American adults, 78 per cent of respondents (+8 since September 2011) support the possibility of prosecutors relying on the death penalty for murder cases in the United States.  

The poll was conducted after the Boston Marathon bombings and concluded before the massive manhunt that resulted in the arrest of one of the suspects.  

Respondents in the South (80%) and West (79%) are more likely to endorse capital punishment, along with supporters of the Republican Party (86%).  . . .

By 72% to 27% margin American voters support death penalty for Boston Bomber

According to a new Washington Post survey, 61% of voters strongly support the death penalty for the Boston bomber.  Another 11% somewhat support the death penalty.  Only 19% strongly oppose the death penalty.  Next time an academic strongly opposes the death penalty please realize how extreme they are.

Another murderer wants to avoid the death penalty

James Holmes undoubtedly wanted to die when he attacked the Aurora movie theater.  But even in his case, he now wants to avoid the death penalty.

Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes has offered to plead guilty and serve the rest of his life in prison to avoid the death penalty — a deal that would bring a swift end to the sometimes wrenching courtroom battle and circumvent a prolonged debate over his sanity.
Prosecutors haven't said whether they would accept the offer, and victims and survivors of last summer's massacre were divided on what should be done.
Melisa Cowden, whose ex-husband was killed in the theater, said Wednesday she was resolutely opposed to a plea deal.
"He didn't give 12 people the chance to plea bargain and say, 'Let's see if you're going to shoot me or not,'" said Cowden, whose two teenage daughters were with their father when he was killed.
"No. No plea bargain," she said. . . .

Two-thirds of people in UK support returning death penalty

From Angus Reid:

The views of people in Britain on capital punishment have not changed over the past year, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found. 

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 2,009 British adults, 65 per cent of respondents support reinstating the death penalty for murder in Great Britain, virtually unchanged since 2011. 

The highest level of support for the return of capital punishment comes from men (68%) and Britons over the age of 55 (69%). 

Most supporters of the death penalty believe it would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers (66%), it would fit the crime because a convicted murderer has taken a life (62%), and would save taxpayers money and the costs associated with having murderers in prison (58%). . . .

Any guess about the relative rate at which juveniles commit murders

16 and 17 year olds can't face the death penalty.  Now they may be on the road to not facing life sentences.  From Fox News:

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday announced signing a bill that could one day bring the release of some criminals who were sentenced as juveniles to life in prison. 

There are 309 inmates serving life-without-parole sentences in California for murders committed when they were younger than 18. 

Brown signed SB9, by Democratic Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco. It would let the inmates ask judges to reconsider their sentences after they serve at least 15 years in prison. 

Judges could then reduce the no-parole sentence to 25 years-to-life if the inmate shows remorse and is taking steps toward rehabilitation. . . .

Innocent people on death row?

Well, let's ask liberal Democratic Governor Jerry Brown:

Brown is a well-known opponent of the death penalty and he says there are no innocent inmates on California’s death row. Remember that the next time you hear otherwise. . . .

Californians overwhelmingly support the death penalty

This new Survey USA poll has some surprising results. Women are more likely than men to keep the death penalty (63% to 59%). Every age group has a clear majority supporting it, from younger voters at 57/31 to seniors at 62/29. Strong majorities of black and Hispanic voters support it, even while opponents claim it gets applied in a discriminatory fashion against minority defendants. It’s no surprise to see 70% of Republicans supporting it, but 56% of Democrats do as well – and even a plurality of self-described liberals want it as an option (48/44).

61% of registered voters from the state of California say they would vote to keep the death penalty, should a death penalty initiative appear on the November 2012 ballot, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KGTV-TV San Diego, KPIX-TV San Francisco, KFSN-TV Fresno, and KABC-TV Los Angeles. 29% say they would vote to eliminate the death penalty. Keeping the death penalty law in California is supported by a majority among all groups except liberals, who are divided. . . .

Solid majority of Canadians support the death penalty

The poll implies that Canadians support the death penalty in much the same way that it is done in the United States, which requires some type of special circumstances. Of course, despite what might be true in the movies, there has yet to be a case in the US where someone was incorrectly put to death. Even in the provinces with the most opposition, the opposition never rises above 45 percent and the next highest opposition is just 32 percent. From Angus Reid Public Opinion:

The survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in partnership with the Toronto Star found that 63 per cent of the 1,002 Canadians surveyed across the country believe the death penalty is sometimes appropriate. Sixty-one per cent said capital punishment, which was abolished in Canada in 1976, is warranted for murder.

“I think people might be warming to the idea of having it as an option on the table, if anything just as a deterrent,” said Jaideep Mukerji of Angus Reid.

But Mukerji said the poll also reveals that it is “not a black and white” issue for many Canadians. Given the choice of supporting the death penalty or life imprisonment, 50 per cent chose the latter, the survey found. . . .

In British Columbia and Alberta, about seven in 10 support the return of the death penalty; six in 10 Ontarians, or 62 per cent, agree.

The most opposition was in Quebec, with about 45 per cent against the return of capital punishment. Some 32 per cent in Ontario and 24 per cent in British Columbia were also opposed.

“These respondents (about 75 per cent) are primarily concerned over the possibility of wrongful convictions leading to executions, but most (54 per cent) also feel that even if a convicted murderer has taken a life it is wrong to take the murderer’s own life as punishment,” the survey results stated. . . .

Thanks to Mario Canseco for this link to the full poll results.

Even mass murderers appear to fear the death penalty

From the BBC:

The sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks has launched an appeal against his death sentence in India's Supreme Court. . . .

The debate over the death penalty is being picked up again in the UK

Dr Tim Stanley, a research fellow in American History at Royal Holloway College, has a piece in the UK Telegraph. Among his points:

Opponents will point out that the death penalty is practiced in the states with the highest murder rates. This is true, but it doesn’t mean that executions don’t work – it just means that they take place where they are needed most. The states without the death penalty historically have lower than average levels of crime. When the death penalty was suspended nationwide from 1968 to 1976, murder rates went through the roof – except in those states. When the ban was lifted, the states that reintroduced the death penalty saw an astonishing 38 per cent fall in their murder rate over twenty years. Indeed, there is a statistical relationship between the growth in executions and the decline in murder. According to John Lott, author of Freedomnomics, “between 1991 and 2000, there were 9,114 fewer murders per year, while the number of executions per year rose by 71.” In his own studies, the only exception to this rule proved to be multiple victim public shootings, like the Virginia Tech Massacre. The reason is obvious: the perpetrators expect to die while carrying out their crime and invariably do. . . .

It is nice to see that Freedomnomics is getting some attention in the UK.

Why do so many criminals fight hard against the death penalty being imposed on them?

Here is an interesting case from Politico. Attorneys say alleged USS Cole bomb plotter shouldn't face death penalty:

Attorneys for the Saudi national accused of masterminding the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole filed a motion Friday arguing that the government's treatment of their client, the mishandling of his prosecution and flaws in the military commissions process should exempt him from being subject to the death penalty.

In their legal brief, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri's lawyers said their client was tortured at the hands of the CIA while being held in secret prisons after his 2002 capture in the United Arab Emirates.

“The United States should not be permitted to kill a man it has brutally tortured and subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” they wrote. . . .

Man commits murder only after he checks to see whether Illinois has the death penalty

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"Berlin said Smirnov had done research on the Internet to determine if Illinois had the death penalty, deciding to go through with Vesel’s murder when he discovered it does not."

Thanks very much to Matt Wilson for this interesting link.

83 percent of Americans support death penalty

These are some surprisingly high percentages given the past results from this source. The previous surveys have all shown high percentages of support, but not this high.

Across the country, 83 per cent of respondents support punishing homicide with the death penalty, while 13 per cent are opposed. A majority of Americans would also rely on capital punishment to punish rape (62%) and kidnapping (51%), but not armed robbery (40%).

Respondents are evenly split on the overall effect of the death penalty. While 39 per cent of Americans think capital punishment acts as a deterrent, 35 per cent disagree. Republicans (52%) are more likely to believe that the death penalty deters potential criminals than Independents (40%) and Democrats (34%). . . .

Abusing IQ tests in death penalty cases?

This seems pretty strange to me that IQ tests done after the person is charged or convicted of a crime should be relied on. There is too much of a possibility of gaming the system. From the New York Times.

A 44-year-man whose lawyers claim he is mentally retarded is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening in Huntsville, Tex., unless the United States Supreme Court agrees to hear his case. . . .

Mr. Woods’s lawyers argue that his intelligence scores are low enough that he should be spared because of the Supreme Court ban in Atkins v. Virginia. But several courts have rejected that claim. . . .

His intelligence was tested twice in grade school, and he received scores of 80 and 78, but defense lawyers argued that those scores should be adjusted downward to account for the age of the tests. As an adult, he was tested just before his trial and scored 70. A second test done in prison in 2002 showed him with an I.Q. of 68. . . .

An IQ of 84 being declared as mentally retarded seems bizarre.

Some state courts in Mississippi, Alabama and Texas have held that inmates with scores as low as 66 are not impaired, while an inmate in California with a score of 84 was declared mentally retarded. . . .

I found this: "The standard deviation used in many tests, including the Weschsler IQ test, is 15." If that is accurate here, that implies that 66.6 percent of the population falls between an IQ of 85 and 115. That means that people just slightly outside the normal range are classified as mentally retarded. The notion that about 16 percent of the population is mentally retarded seems pretty high.