Who Owns Death?

How many stories -- of "foot long blue and orange flames shot from the right side of his bobbing head" or exonerated criminals or retarded prisoners saving their last meal for "after they get back" -- will the American people have to hear before they convince their elected officials that capital punishment serves no purpose other than revenge?

If recent polling data and a scan of the media are any indication, that day could be in the not-too-distant future. A recent Gallup poll revealed that, if presented with the possibility of life without parole, 50 percent of Americans would favor it over the death penalty. A July Wall Street Journal poll found that 63 percent favored a moratorium, an opinion shared by Illinois Governor George Ryan, who, a year ago, put a hold on executions in his state until a panel of experts find out how to fix a system that is not working and is losing support rapidly.

In addition to Ryan's courageous stand -- for a conservative Republican, such a move could have been political suicide -- a grassroots movement to abolish the death penalty, comprised of religious leaders, celebrities, lawyers and victim's families, is gaining steam.

Buoyed by poll data that shows support for the death penalty declining, the abolitionist movement has increased in size in recent months despite the election of George W. Bush, who has overseen 152 executions since becoming governor of Texas. While most Texas executions occurred under the media radar for years, two recent executions (Karla Faye Tucker, whom Bush smugly mocked in an interview, and Gary Graham, whose execution drew heavily reported protest) brought attention to Texas' execution practices. And while Bush continues to defend his stance, "civilized" nations around the world have done away with the practice. Only countries often cited by the United States as being "human rights violators" -- like Iraq, Iran and China -- still regularly carry out executions.

Although Bush has come under fire from abolitionists for his death penalty record, his presidential predecessor was not much better. Bill Clinton, while running for president in 1992, flew back to Arkansas to oversee the execution of a man so profoundly retarded that he did not comprehend that he was being executed; he asked that his piece of pie be saved for when he returned to his cell. In 1994, Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which limits the habeas corpus rights of murder defendants.

Some in the death penalty abolitionist movement, however, think that Bush's record could help their cause.

"I think the election of George W. Bush, and his appointment of John Ashcroft, will highlight, rather than undercut, the problems with capital punishment," said Ronald Tabak, an anti-death penalty lawyer from New York City. "While the judicial appointments likely to emerge from this administration are likely to be horrible, and while its policies like the federal death penalty are likely to be abysmal, these will be implemented against a backdrop of increasing public concern over the fairness of the death penalty, and a growing awareness that the way Bush let it be implemented in Texas was extremely zealous and unfair."

Judging from the posturing of politicians, supporting the death penalty is still a means to an end. But the grassroots groundswell could gain enough momentum in the coming months to force many pro-death advocates to reassess this polarizing issue.

The death penalty abolition movement -- headed by high profile "celebrities" like M*A*S*H's Mike Farrell, Dead Man Walking author sister Helen Prejean and singer-songwriter Steve Earle -- convened for a convention this past November in San Francisco. While the movement contains many different factions and sub-groups, the basic tenants of the movement are based on moral, intellectual, spiritual and practical reasons: