Death Penalty in New York State - Research Paper Example

? Running Head: New York Death Penalty Death Penalty In New York Inserts His/her Death Penalty New York TheState of New York has had a long and tumultuous history with the death penalty. What began as a default punishment for all crimes ranging from trivial to serious has in recent years become the source of a great deal of introspection amongst the legislature, judiciary and public. Of course, New York’s relationship with the death penalty cannot, be viewed in isolation from America’s history with capital punishment, as this has undoubtedly had a large impact on New York’s attitudes towards the penalty. Death Penalty: A History The colonization of the America’s by the European’s brought with it the death penalty. George Kendall is documented as being the first man to be officially put to death in colonized America by the state in 1608. Since then over 20,000 accused criminals have been executed in America for a variety of offenses ranging from murder to property crimes. The inclination of jurists to award the death penalty almost at will in the early part of American history was partly influenced by the lack of penitentiaries and an organized prison system. Execution was seen as the primary method to protect society from subversive and anti-social elements. Capital punishment was also employed as a means to control the slave population and many disproportionate capital sentences were imposed on slaves of African descent when the same would not have applied to Caucasians. In New York attempted murder or rape were capital crimes only when committed by slaves (Acker, 2003). The colony of New York was originally under the control of the Dutch albeit without any formal legal system. The death penalty was practiced and administered in an arbitrary and reckless manner in those early days. It was often the case that when the culprit could not be identified, the accused would have to “draw lots” in order to determine who would be executed. The arrival of the British to New York saw the implementation of a penal code, where the death penalty was still a frequently awarded punishment. In 1741, 18 white colonials and 13 slaves were sentenced to death by burning at the stake. However, the new British legal system also contained a clemency clause. An individual on death row was eligible for a pardon if they agreed to leave the colony or chose to enlist in the armed forces. As a result of this provision during the 18th century 51% of individuals sentenced to death in New York were eventually pardoned (Heller, 2008). The death penalty statute continued to evolve after the formation of the United States of America and the subsequent imposition of its new legal system. In 1888, The New York State Assembly passed a statute which would see it become the first state to directly administer the death penalty. According to the statute the death penalty was mandatory for extremely grave and depraved offences. The law also called for a new method of execution, which was “death by electricity”. William Kemmler became the first man to be executed by means of electric chair, in 1890. Up until the 1930’s the State of New York was responsible for more executions than any other state. During this period state statutes were amended in order to encompass a wider array of crimes that could be punishable by death. The most significant of these was kidnapping, influenced greatly by the “Lindbergh baby’ saga which dominated headlines during this period. Due to these amendments juries were also instructed to give sentencing recommendations in trials where the convicted were eligible for capital punishment (Heller, 2008). Rise of Abolitionist Movement Throughout the colonial era and up until the mid 20th century voices that were opposed to the death penalty slowly began to grow in strength. By the 18th century many American’s had begun to question the application of the death penalty for crimes that were petty and trivial in nature. Dissenting voices could also be heard in editorial columns as well as juries who began to return not guilty verdicts in cases where the death penalty could be awarded. The most important piece of literature to emerge on this subject was written by an Italian named Cessare Beccaria. His influential work titled Essay on Crimes and Punishment (1764) condemned the death penalty as needless and disproportionate particularly in property cases. A new era began where abolitionist organizations were formed and states such as New York abolished public hangings that were beginning to be seen as barbaric in States in 1835. States such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin were heavily influenced by this new doctrine and by the mid 19th century these states had either limited the death penalty for first degree murder or cases or abolished capital punishment altogether. Between 1911 and 1917 several more states such as Kansas, Washington and Oregon abolished the death penalty. However, due to several factors such as the new found fear of communism, economic depression and World Wars contributed to curbing this trend of abolition and states such as Kansas and Washington soon reinstated the death penalty (Reggio, 1997). The State of New York was slightly late in incorporating the voices of outright abolition. The number of executions in the state only began to decline in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Abolitionists bills were introduced every year between 1950 and 1962. However, it wasn’t until 1963 that the first amendments were made to the death penalty statute which perpetually halted the administration of capital punishment in the state. The new amendments stated that the requirement for the mandatory imposition of the death penalty for premeditated murder would be removed, the jury’s sentencing recommendations would also be legally binding on the court. Furthermore, protection of minors (under the age of eighteen) from capital punishment was enshrined and the system of bifurcated trials for guilt and sentencing was also introduced. Judges were also given discretionary powers to overrule a jury and overturn a death sentence in case of extenuating circumstances. 1963 was the last year when the death penalty was administered by the state of New York when Eddie Mays was executed in Sing Sing Penitentiary. Further amendments were added to the statute in 1965 limiting the death penalty to murderers of police officers or prisoners (serving a life sentence) who killed an inmate. The scope of crimes punishable by death was again expanded by 1967. By the end of the 1960’s 14 states had become abolitionist or near abolitionist and this included New York (Heller, 2008). Furman v. Georgia By this time the abolitionist movement was in full swing, in 1972 the movement achieved a landmark victory in the case of Furman v. Georgia. The verdict given by the Supreme Court in this case had the effect of halting all executions throughout the country. The case in question was actually a combination of three different appeals. The case of Furman v. Georgia where Furman was convicted of murder as well as Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas where both the accused were convicted of rape. All three men were sentenced to death. The Supreme Court agreed to hear these appeals on the basis of one question: Does the death penalty constitute cruel and unusual punishment which in turn violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States? This was not an ordinary trial it was constituted primarily of of brief oral arguments presented by each of the defendants with particular concentration on the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. It took a panel of nine judges over 5 months to deliberate on the cases and a unanimous verdict still could not be reached. Eventually, the majority of judges on the panel (5 out of 9) decided to overturn the death penalty in this case. Although each of the 9 judges including those who agreed to overturn the death penalty had their own opinion. It was the opinion of Justice Douglas that was later used to derive the essence of the ruling. Although he found nothing unconstitutional in Capital Punishment in itself, he found the current application of the penalty to be unjust and racially biased. Even though only 2 of the 5 judges who overturned the death penalty found capital punishment to be unconstitutional, the ruling in Furman v. Georgia had the effect of temporarily halting the administration of the death penalty countrywide (Stefoff, 2008). States with proclivities towards capital punishment were sent into a frenzy in order to enact new legislation that would make the process of imposing and administering the death penalty more transparent and consistent. The debate once again took centre stage in the Supreme Court in 1976 during the case of Gregg v. Georgia. Like the case of Furman, Gregg v. Georgia also consisted of several different appeals with the same underlying issue. Gregg was found guilty of murder and robbery and was sentenced was to death. In this case the Supreme Court voted 7-2 in favour of not overturning the death sentence. This was an explicit statement that the death penalty would not be considered unconstitutional by the highest court in the land if its administration was consistent and not cruel or unusual. This ruling had the practical effect of reinstating the legality of the death penalty in the country (Stefoff, 2008). Cuomo v. Pataki The result of Furman v. Brown, however had a far longer lasting impact on the capital punishment legislation in the State of New York. Firstly it forced the New York Court of Appeals to declare the death penalty statute unconstitutional and hence void in the State of New York. Secondly, the arrival of Hugh Carey and subsequently his successor Mario Cuomo to the office of Governor of New York meant that the governor would veto any death penalty statute as they were both staunch abolitionists. This state of affairs existed between 1978 and 1994, when New York was effectively an abolitionist state (Heller, 2008). Unfortunately, for Cuomo his tenure coincided with a with a high rise in crime in New York. His views were also in stark contrast to those of George Pataki the man who would defeat Mario Cuomo in the 1994 Gubernatorial elections. Pataki ran on a platform which identified reinstating the death penalty statute as primary issue. He stated several times that he would immediately sign any bill which brought about a return to capital punishment in the state. The New York State Assembly passed a new capital punishment statute which was signed into law by Governor Pataki March 7 1995 effective from the 1st of September of the same year. The new legislation was an extremely sophisticated and carefully crafted piece of law, a far cry from the early days of the colonies. It took into account the various mitigating circumstances and aggravating factors that influence the award of the death penalty, such as the prior criminal record of the convicted and their mental state. The legislation also attempted to ensure the impartiality of the jury demanding the usage of a careful and elaborate jury screening process. The law also called for the use of separate trials to determine guilt and to determine the punishment (Heller, 2008). The act was also unique in that it lead to the formation of the Capital Defenders Office an independent entity financed by the state of New York in order to ensure that those sentenced to would get adequate legal protection in the case of a lack of funds. In many states with death penalty statutes such as Texas no such institution existed at the time. Even though the new law once again legitimized Capital Punishment, 799 cases of 1st and 2nd Degree murder with the possibility of the death penalty were investigated. The death penalty was sought 50 times and 18 cases reached the stage of capital trial (Capital Defender Office, 2003). However, no executions were carried out in the State of New York while this law remained on the books. The statute as sophisticated and innovative as it was for its time still contained flaws, which were later deemed unconstitutional and resulted in another seismic shift by the state of New York in its relationship with Capital Punishment. People v. La Valle The case of People v. La Valle surrounded around a man named Stephen La Valle who had already served a ten year assault and was convicted of raping and murdering a 32 year old school teacher. The jury sentenced La Valle to death. La Valle appealed to several courts and eventually found favor with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. They found that a certain deadlock instruction within the statute which stated that should the jurors not be able to come to a unanimous decision between the death penalty and life without parole, than the judge would automatically pass a sentence of 20-25 years in prison with the possibility of parole afterwards. The court found that this instruction was coercive and unconstitutional forcing jurors to choose the death penalty. The ruling of the court meant that the death penalty could not be applied under the current statute (Heller, 2008). The decision resulted in outrage from residents of the teacher’s hometown and proponents of the death penalty such as Governor Pataki. This lead to the State Assembly of New York scheduling a 5 day session where speakers were to be invited to give their testimony and opinion on the death penalty statute. Several individuals from all spectrums of society were invited to receive a fair and balanced account. The ensuing testimony included 170 witnesses, 2500 pages and 35 hours of oral testimony. After these hearings, certain amendments to the death penalty statute were proposed. These included: giving jurors three options to consider which are execution, life in prison without possibility of parole and life imprisonment with a possibility of parole after 25 years (New York State Assembly, 2005). The assembly however, took no further action nor did they make any attempts to amend the legislation hence virtually declaring the statute void. After La Valle other death sentences were overturned. The debate took prominence once again in 2007 during the case of the People v. Taylor. John Taylor was a man who along with an accomplice murdered five employees of fast food chain Wendy’s in an extremely brutal manner. During the original trial the judge instructed the jury that if they could not reach a unanimous verdict than he would automatically impose a sentence of 175 years in prison with a possibility of parole after this period. The judge considered this to be a non-coercive instruction and the jury sentenced Taylor to death. The court of appeals however, saw thing differently and upheld the La Valle decision arguing that judicial precedent had been set and that Taylor’s death sentence should be overturned (Feuer, 2007). Conclusion Although several state legislators and prominent individuals have dissented against the La Valle and Taylor decisions and called for the reinstatement of the death penalty particularly in the case of the murder of police officers. The State of New York is effectively a state without the death penalty. References Acker, J.R. (2003). The Death Penalty: An American History. Contemporary Justice Review, 6(2), 169-186. Capital Defender Office. (2003). Feuer, A. (2007, October 23). Death Penalty Is Thrown Out In Wendy’s Killings. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/nyregion/23cnd-death.html Heller, D. (2008). Death Becomes the State: The Death Penalty in New York State - Past, Present and Future. Pace Law Review, 28(3). Reggio, M. H. (n.d.). History of the Death Penalty. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html Stefoff, R. (2008). Furman v. Georgia: Debating the Death Penalty. New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. The New York State Assembly. (2005). Read More