STORY: "As support for death penalty decreases nationally, where does Alabama stand?" by Kelsey Stein, published by Alabama.com on July 03, 2015.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Nebraska abolished the death penalty in May, prompting a flurry of speculation that other states will follow suit and death penalty opponents will continue to gain ground."
GIST: "When Nebraska abolished the death penalty in May, was that change inspired by the state's unique circumstances, or is it a harbinger of the tide turning in other conservative states? The decision prompted a flurry of speculation that other states will follow suit and death penalty opponents will continue to gain ground......... Alabama also is one of just a few states that allow a judge to override a jury's sentencing recommendation. That power usually serves to override a life sentence and impose death. Kathryn Morgan, an associate professor at UAB, is researching the application of the death penalty in Alabama and across the country. Alabama's criminal justice relies enough on the death penalty that Morgan doesn't see the state's stance changing. "It's a Southern subculture of violence that will not allow us to end the practice anytime soon," she said. "If you look at the history of the South, it has been fraught with violence. I don't see it leaving Alabama soon, and I don't see it leaving the South soon." In Alabama, Morgan says, the application of the death penalty raises the issue of discrimination based on race and class. Black offenders have been executed disproportionately since it was reinstated in 1976, and many of the inmates currently on death row couldn't afford qualified counsel. "When the Supreme Court abolished it in the '70s, it was an opportunity for states to establish guidelines so it would not be applied in a discriminatory manner, but nothing has changed," Morgan said. "We still have the same kind of discriminatory application of the death penalty. It's about race. It's about money. As long as those things matter, we're going to have a problem with implementing the death penalty.".........In the meantime, Nebraska's decision gives both opponents and supporters of the death penalty an idea of what could come next. "It is not an indication that the tide is turning," Dunham said. "I think it's an indication that the tide may already have turned. You are seeing conservatives expressing their opposition to the death penalty more openly. You're seeing conservatives talking to each other about the issue, when, in years past, there was an unspoken assumption that political conservatives automatically supported the death penalty." In the most recent Pew Research studies, about 60 percent of Americans said they supported the death penalty, down from 80 percent in the 1990s. Exonerations, like that of Anthony Ray Hinton in Alabama this year, have played a huge role in influencing public opinion, Dunham said."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/as_support_for_death_penalty_d.html
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