The New Year has arrived, and the State of Texas has resumed its record-setting march in the death penalty arena. The State already has six executions scheduled in 2010.

            Most people in the “free world” (as it is called by those incarcerated) celebrated the advent of the New Year. Fireworks lit up the midnight skies, alcohol was consumed aplenty, and slogans of change were pronounced by all. It is amazing that people celebrate the passing of an old year and the coming of a new one when, in fact, it only signifies we’re all just one step closer to our inevitable demise. Those who love life seem to welcome its passing the most. Strange behavior, to say the least!

            But the coming of a new year on death row does not invite celebration, only foreboding. The date with the executioner draws nearer. While the condemned inmate may welcome the coming year as an opportunity to have yet another appeal heard and decided, he cannot shake the dread that accompanies it. A denial—and most appeals are now met with denial—eliminates yet another avenue of hope. The “writ” hope is a vicious, mean beast – the arguments, cases, and persuasion the death penalty attorneys use to push for a new trial or a new sentencing hearing are often eloquent, encouraging hope which is ultimately shattered by harsh rulings from appellate judges who only want to “get on down the road with these executions” (as one former Louisiana Supreme Court justice put it).

            On death row, death stalks the new year, like a pack of wolves stalking a weakened elk. And what a waste. The Death Penalty Information Center closed out 2009 with a December 31^st posting about a University of Texas at Dallas study which found there is no “empirical support” for the theory that the death penalty serves as a deterrent. The study was published in the journal of Criminology and Public Policy and authored by Tomislav V. Koyandzic, Lynne M. Vieratus and Denise Paquette Boots. All three authors are criminology professors. Their study, as reported by the DPIC, concluded:

            “In sum, our findings of no deterrent effect of the DP (death penalty) on homicide suggests the risk of execution does not enhance the level of deterrence. Therefore, we conclude that although policy makers and the public may continue to support the use of the death penalty based on retribution, religious grounds, or other justifications, defending its use based on deterrence is inconsistent with our findings. At a minimum, policy makers should refrain from justifying its use by claiming that it is a deterrent to homicide and explore less costly, more effective ways of addressing crime.”

            Those who cling to the thoroughly discredited theory that the death penalty serves as a deterrent reminds me of the gentleman who recently wrote a “letter to the editor” to the Houston Chronicle about a recent report from the FBI that the crime rate significantly decreased in 2009. The letter writer was a tad upset because the newspaper did not attribute increased gun ownership by law-abiding citizens as a factor for the crime rate reduction. If the drug violence in Mexico and Colombia and the inner city gang violence in America indicate anything at all, it demonstrates that criminals do not give a damn about how many guns law-abiding citizens possess. Criminal will only increase their fire power proportionally to that obtained by law-abiding citizens. The only criminals who suffer from law-abiding citizens using their weapons to protect the property and lives are generally petty thieves who are most often not even armed when they are gunned down trying to break into a citizen’s home or business.

            Adverse consequences have never been a factor in an individual’s decision to commit a crime—and when it does factor in, the results are usually deadly. For example, the elimination of witnesses by killing them. The reality is that the death penalty and long prison terms have never, and never will be, a factor in crime decision-making. Those criminal decisions are fueled by greed, desire and need.

            And of the six men already awaiting execution in Texas in 2010, not one let either the existence of the death penalty or its prevalent use in this state deter them from committing their crimes.