 Not only are U.S. states increasingly banning the death penalty, and not only are those that have not banned it yet using it less, and not only does this follow behind the trend worldwide, and not only is U.S. public opinion continuing to move against state murder, but a recent Gallup poll found that younger U.S. residents oppose the death penalty much more than older ones. And not only that. There's more good news. Trump cannot stop states from banning capital punishment. On the contrary, states may be able to stop the federal government from killing people. If the remaining states ban state killing, it will be possible to argue in court that federal executions are -- even more blatantly than before -- unconstitutionally cruel and unusual, particularly as Trump's executive order on the death penalty specifically targets undocumented immigrants. But states will not continue banning something merely because the public wants it. We have to demand it. Click here to tell your state legislators to catch your state up with the country and the world.  |
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