Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 15, 2006 10:33:31 GMT -5
Judge: Death penalty is here to stay
BY BRUCE SMITH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sep 15, 2006
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The death penalty will continue to be part of American justice, William W. Wilkins, chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said yesterday.
But some may increasingly question the cost and there may be more international pressure to eliminate capital punishment, Wilkins, of Greenville, told students at the Charleston School of Law.
"I think the death penalty will be around for a long time," Wilkins said. "But I think you're going to see escalating costs." Those opposing the death penalty argue the money can be better spent elsewhere, he said.
"It costs a lot of money for the federal and the state governments to prosecute somebody for the death penalty," Wilkins said. In Florida, such cases average about $22 million, he said.
Wilkins, a former prosecutor, has been involved in 96 death-penalty cases as an attorney or judge. He is chief judge of the Richmond, Va.-based federal court that hears appeals of federal cases from the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
He said while polls show a majority of Americans favor the death penalty, jurors impose capital punishment in only about 10 percent of death-penalty cases.
It has to do with a juror "being able to look someone in the eye" knowing they have sentenced them to death, he said.
The death penalty is both a social and political issue, Wilkins said.
"In South Carolina, no one could be elected to statewide office if they opposed the death penalty," he said. But "the United States' use of capital punishment has earned us a lot of international criticism."
Wilkins noted that of the democracies, only Japan and South Korea also have the death penalty. He said it affects the ability of prosecutors to bring criminals to justice here because some nations refuse to extradite defendants who could face the death penalty in the United States.
BY BRUCE SMITH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sep 15, 2006
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The death penalty will continue to be part of American justice, William W. Wilkins, chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said yesterday.
But some may increasingly question the cost and there may be more international pressure to eliminate capital punishment, Wilkins, of Greenville, told students at the Charleston School of Law.
"I think the death penalty will be around for a long time," Wilkins said. "But I think you're going to see escalating costs." Those opposing the death penalty argue the money can be better spent elsewhere, he said.
"It costs a lot of money for the federal and the state governments to prosecute somebody for the death penalty," Wilkins said. In Florida, such cases average about $22 million, he said.
Wilkins, a former prosecutor, has been involved in 96 death-penalty cases as an attorney or judge. He is chief judge of the Richmond, Va.-based federal court that hears appeals of federal cases from the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
He said while polls show a majority of Americans favor the death penalty, jurors impose capital punishment in only about 10 percent of death-penalty cases.
It has to do with a juror "being able to look someone in the eye" knowing they have sentenced them to death, he said.
The death penalty is both a social and political issue, Wilkins said.
"In South Carolina, no one could be elected to statewide office if they opposed the death penalty," he said. But "the United States' use of capital punishment has earned us a lot of international criticism."
Wilkins noted that of the democracies, only Japan and South Korea also have the death penalty. He said it affects the ability of prosecutors to bring criminals to justice here because some nations refuse to extradite defendants who could face the death penalty in the United States.