Alabama is Last State Standing

Alabama is now the last state that still allows judges to reject a jury’s recommendation of  life in prison without parole and instead sentence an inmate to be executed.

The only other state allowing that was Delaware, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that law in August:

CBS and AP reported:

“The court also said the law is unconstitutional because it does not require jurors to be unanimous in finding aggravating circumstances that weigh in favor of the death penalty.”

The Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative reports Alabama judges almost always use that power to reverse a jury’s decision of life in prison and instead of impose the death penalty.

“Since 1976, Alabama judges have overridden jury verdicts 112 times. Although judges have authority to override life or death verdicts, in 91 percent of overrides elected judges have overruled jury verdicts of life to impose the death penalty.”

“Nearly 20 percent of the people currently on Alabama’s death row were sentenced to death through judicial override. Judge override is the primary reason why Alabama has the highest per capita death sentencing rate in the country.”

EJI’s report on judicial override also shows Alabama to have the highest death penalty rate in the country:

“Judge override is the primary reason why Alabama has the highest per capita death sentencing rate and execution rate in the country. last year, with a state population of 4.5 million people, Alabama imposed more new death sentences than Texas, with a population of 24 million.”

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the Alabama prison system, including death row, because of perennial reports of overcrowding and reports of sexual assault on male inmates by other inmates and guards,