Spectacular news from New Mexico– last week it became the 15th state to abolish the death penalty. On March 18, Governor Bill Richardson signed into law legislation instituting life in prison without the possibility of parole as the maximum punishment in the state, replacing lethal injection.
This news is especially encouraging for capital punishment abolitionists as Richardson was a long-time supporter of the death penalty. An article in the New York Times last month suggested Richardson was considering eliminating the death penalty due to its expensive cost, but he ultimately cited concerns over flaws in the judicial system as his main reason for repealing capital punishment. In his words:
I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime… From an international human rights perspective, there is no reason the United States should be behind the rest of the world on this issue. Many of the countries that continue to support and use the death penalty are also the most repressive nations in the world. That’s not something to be proud of.
Although Richardson is certainly to be commended for his decision, there’s still a catch (or two): the law only applies to crimes committed after July 1, 2009, and New Mexico currently has two inmates on death row, Robert Fry and Timothy Allen. They are not eligible for commutation of their sentences under this law, and Richardson has so far given no indication that he will make exceptions in their cases.
So where does this leave the U.S. for the rest of 2009? Here are some numbers from the Death Penalty Information Center:
- Inmates currently on death row in the United States: 3,190
- Inmates currently on death row for the U.S. Government and Military: 60
- States with the death penalty vs. those without: 35 vs. 15
Contact Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico and congratulate him on his decision to repeal the death penalty, but also urge him to commute the sentences of the two remaining prisoners on death row:
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 476-2200
Email Bill Richardson
To contact your own governor and express support for abolishing the death penalty, click here.
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Update: Read the New York Times‘ editorial advocating nationwide abolishment of the death penalty from September 27, 2009.
Is there an inmate service that gives free backgroun checks, too. Or, do these always need to be paid for.
Hi Jeannie,
Background checks generally have to be paid for, though you can search for sex offenders for free in every state. If you’re aware of when an offense was committed, you can check local newspaper articles too.
There are also numerous free inmate location services.
Good luck,
1 in 100
Why are we committing to take care of these monsters at forty-thousand dollars or more a year? People like Robert Fry are never going to be anything but a violent killer who serves no purpose in life to anyone or anything. Why on earth would you force the tax payers to give up money they can’t afford to keep this guy alive? There are many killers like him who are guilty of so many violent and gruesome overkill murders and there is no doubt of who the killer is.
What purpose does allowing him to live when it comes to the people side of this. The side that has suffered from Fry’s senseless killings. At some point killing is warranted when the cost of keeping someone alive just because a guilty conscience is setting in the governors office this term. I get irked when some emotionally retarded lawyer can’t face himself in the mirror so he goes and changes something the voters set up.
These inept lawyers who worry more about how they look in the poles instead of what the voters and taxpayers want are useless. They need to have their butts removed from office ASAP. When a jury of his peers makes the decision to remove a person from society and put them to death, it needs to be done. No weeping governor who wants a grand stand play for media popularity should be able to change anything.