What was unusual then has become rote.
On Wednesday, barring a reprieve, Kimberly McCarthy will become the
500th convicted killer in Texas to receive a lethal injection. The number far outpaces the execution
total in any other state. But it also reflects the reality of capital
punishment in the United States today: While some states have halted the
practice in recent years because of concern about wrongful convictions,
executions continue at a steady pace in many others.
The death penalty is on the books in 32 states. On average, Texas executes an inmate about every three weeks. Still, even as McCarthy prepares to die
at the Huntsville Unit, it’s clear that Texas, too, has been affected by
the debate over capital punishment. In recent years, state lawmakers
have provided more sentencing options for juries and courts have
narrowed the cases in which the death penalty can be applied. In
guaranteeing DNA testing for inmates and providing for sentences of life
without parole, Texas could well be on a slower track to execute its
next 500 inmates.
“It’s a very fragile system” as
attitudes change, said Mark White, who was Texas attorney general when
Brooks was executed and then presided over 19 executions as governor
from 1983 to 1987. “There’s a big difference between fair
and harsh. I think you have (Texas) getting a reputation for being
bloodthirsty, and that’s not good.”
Texas has accounted for nearly 40
percent of the more than 1,300 executions carried out since murderer
Gary Gilmore went before a Utah firing squad in 1977 and became the
first U.S. inmate executed following the Supreme Court’s clarification
of death penalty laws. (Texas had more than 300 executions before the
pause.) Virginia is a distant second, nearly 400 executions behind.
