In recent years, American politicians have learned the peril of actively opposing the death penalty. During the 1988 Presidential race, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis stumbled in the polls after stating that he would oppose executing first degree murderers even, hypothetically, the convicted killer of his own wife. New York Governor Mario Cuomo's 1994 reelection loss to a political newcomer could be attributed to his annual vetoes of death penalty bills passed by the state legislature. Meanwhile, public support for capital punishment is overwhelming, and federal provisions allowing capital punishment, as well as the number of actual executions, have increased dramatically over the last decade. Accordingly, the United States retains the dubious distinction of joining China, Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia as nations that continue to execute their citizens. Nationwide surveys, however, indicate that the number of Americans who favor the death penalty is, in fact, declining. As the struggle over state-sponsored homicide rages on, twelve states and the District of Columbia have taken bold measures to eliminate this unethical and inequitable practice.
This landmark study is the first to examine the history and motivations of those jurisdictions that abolished capital punishment and that have resisted the move to reinstate death penalty statutes. Employing the case study method, the work focuses on the nine states - Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska, Iowa, and West Virginia - that took legislative action. Three other states - Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont - that banned the death penalty through court decisions are discussed, as is the District of Columbia's courageous fight against Congressional efforts to reestablish the death penalty in the nation's capital. The inquiry delves into the local relationship between death penalty abolition and numerous empirical factors, including: economic conditions, public sentiment, the roles of the political, social and economic elite, the mass media, population diversity, murder rates, and the regional history of executions. With its solid research and methodology, this work provides invaluable historical and practical information to advocates striving to abolish capital punishment in other states.