With almost every election cycle in Oklahoma, “law and order” is at or close to the top of the agenda. We’re pretty big on capital punishment, too. Oklahoma makes up 1.2% of the U.S. population, but accounts for 7.8% of all executions since 1976, the year the death penalty was once again sanctioned. Overall, for states with capital punishment, 71% of the executions were carried out by states won (18) by McCain and 29% were carried out by states (16) carried by Obama. Of the 16 states plus the District of Columbia without the death penalty, Obama won 12 and McCain won 4.
Four of the states (Florida, Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia) that swung from the Republican column in 2004 to the Democratic column in 2008 accounted for 54% of the executions carried out in states won by Obama. The 11 states that once comprised the Confederate States of America and make up the overwhelming portion of what today is considered the “Bible Belt” carried out 74% of the executions. Adding in executions carried out by four (West Virginia does not have the death penalty) of the five border states (states where slavery was legal but which did not secede) takes that percentage to 82% Those states overall also have some of the highest homicide rates in the U.S.
New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009 and New York did so in 2007; Kansas and New Hampshire have the death penalty but have not executed anyone since 1976. As well, South Dakota since 1976 has not executed anyone against their will; the state had one execution where the condemned chose not to appeal.
Why do states that overall have both high execution rates and high homicide rates also have populations that seemingly claim that faith is more central to their day-to-day living than many of those that live in other places?
The United Methodist Church (20% of its members are citizens of countries other than the United States) strongly condemns capital punishment. A key founder, John Wesley appears to have supported capital punishment while maintaining a strong understanding of a substantial link between poverty and crime.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Kim 05.26.10 at 4:54 pm
Thanks for this, Joel. Not unexpected, but still very disturbing.
The utilitarian argument for capital punishment, viz. deterrence, has been completely discredited. The deontological argument, viz. the obligation of retribution, remains (Kant defended capital punishment). But for Christians? Jesus rejected the lex talionis, and his entire approach to justice was restorative, not retributive. Modern criminologists, unlike pandering populist politicians, have also emphasised a reformative ideal. Proponents of capital punishemnt are, in my view, guilty not only of spiritual sclerosis but of the sin of despair. And how interesting that when Pope John Paul II spoke of our “culture of death”, he had in mind not only abortion but capital punishment, which, in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (”On the Value and Inviobility of Human Life”) (1995), he condemned as having no place even within a retributive system of justice.
The death penalty for murder was abolished in Great Britain in 1969, but remained in the statutes for treason until 1998. The last execution here (by hanging) took place in 1964. Capital punishment was still a live issue during the “Troubles” (in Northern Ireland), and occasionally rears its ugly head, at least rhetorically, after particulary heinous murders (especially of children). The third sermon I ever preached (before I commenced my ministerial training) I delivered during just such a wave of vengeful hysteria. I’ve still got it, dated October 15th, 1978, preached in a very conservative area of England. Put it this way: the church didn’t give me a standing ovation. It dosen’t sound like you would get one either, Joel! But I pray you’ll sock it to them, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Mark Byron 05.26.10 at 5:02 pm
It probably isn’t racist per se, which is what you are alluding to with the slave-state references. It’s likely a combination of a militarist and hunting tradition that likes guns, and an emphasis on the Old Testament in Bible teaching which has much more capital punishment than just for murder, although in the OT system, there was no jail, just either the death penalty or a fine. The gun tradition leads to more murders and the OT attitude adds to more executions.
The ongoing racial tension and a bigger rich-poor divide probably help things along, along with a tradition of hot-headed men in the Scottish-settled areas of the southeast and a more judgmental attitude in many quarters.
The church can work on promoting peace, calm and help for the poor, but it can’t easily help the hot-heads of both races that are outside the church.
J 05.27.10 at 4:46 pm
“The church can work on promoting peace, calm and help for the poor, but it can’t easily help the hot-heads of both races that are outside the church”
I’m not going to jump into a debate about it’s merits, but I’ll bet a majority of Methodists support the death penalty. IIRC, Richard once agreed that though the UK has no death penalty, if it was put to popular vote they would.
Like Mark, I think the reasons are far more complex than Joel seems to think here; I also agree you’re trying to attribute it to racism but for some reason won’t say so. As a point of trivia, according to Gallup, at times a majority of black respondents have indicated support for the death penaly, though black support generally sits in the low-mid 40s.
” The utilitarian argument for capital punishment, viz. deterrence, has been completely discredited”
If you want to abolish the death penalty, this argument is a waste of time; the recidivism rate for convicts who have been executed is sufficiently low to establish that the DP clearly reduces crime, though not very much. With supporters, you need to focus on those wrongfully convicted, and in those cases you need to focus on people who are actually innocent, not cases where the condemend shouldn’t be condemned because he’s really only guilty of second degree murder, not first. In the US, a campaign to explain that CSI is about as realistic as Star Trek would be a good idea too.
Joel 05.28.10 at 12:19 am
It is not unusual for residents of southern and border states to view people outside of their state or geographic area as being lax in the area of “law and order” and “faith.” Numerous Christian pastors based in southern or border states regard California as a haven for non-believers. In reading Republican campaign literature it almost seems as if there is a state named “Liberal Massachusetts.” However, it is worth noting that Massachusetts has some of both the lowest divorce rates and murder rates. I didn’t set out to ostracize the southern and border states. However, it was hard to overlook that 14 out of 15 of these states have the death penalty. I was born in one (Louisiana) of those 15 states and have fond memories of making trips there.
Barack Obama won 11 of the 16 states with the lowest divorce rates. John McCain won 10 of the 16 states with the highest divorce rates. I don’t doubt that there are very complex socio-economic reasons for these facts. But they figures can’t just be written off, either.
I’ve conversed with many Oklahomans who don’t want to travel to New York City for fear of losing their life. The truth is, however, that Tulsa has a per capita murder rate twice that of New York City. Oklahoma City has a per capita murder rate 1.7 times greater than New York City. These statistics don’t detract from my overall delight with what Oklahoma has to offer. However, the numbers are a reality check. I grant that rank-and-file United Methodists support capital punishment. However, strong majorities of United Methodist clergy oppose it, and in the United Methodist system of government, clergy have one-half of the vote and the laity have the other half. I haven’t seen polls, but I expect that voting laity at General Conference are more opposed to capital punishment than those who sit in the pews (or who self-identify as United Methodist but rarely or never attend services).
I’m not trying to either simplify or stereotype the southern or border states. I’m trying to “un-stereotype” other areas of the country. I’m very interested in other folks’ “take” on what I’ve shared. I always keep in mind that phrase “lies, damn lies, and statistics.”
I don’t see myself as broadly invoking racism in my post, but there are signs that it was a factor in the 2008 general presidential election, particularly in most of the “Deep South” states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.” In Louisiana, Obama could manage only 14% of the white vote (compared to 43% nationally) whereas John Kerry, who got 41% of the vote nationally in 2004, got 24% of the white vote in Louisiana.
Joel 05.28.10 at 1:56 am
I think it worth noting that segregation and racial bias existed to a significant degree in states outside the south. And when the Ku Klux Klan made its second appearance circa 1920, it swept across much of the nation, including many northern states. President Woodrow Wilson, in one of his most despicable unofficial acts, put his stamp of approval on the overtly racist film “Birth of a Nation.”
Not long before President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, George Wallace announced that he would challenge Kennedy for the Democratic nomination. Wallace surprised many in receiving about one-third of the vote in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan in ‘64 running against President Johnson. In 1972, though the nomination would go to George McGovern, Wallace carried, among others, the Michigan and Maryland Democratic primaries.
The race riots in Los Angeles and in many large northern cities are a strong indication that racism, racial inequality, and segregation were not confined to southern and border states. Racism remains a factor in northern states, but did not seem to keep whites who normally vote Democratic in presidential elections from doing so in 2008.
It is very difficult to write a blog post that qualifies all the generalities without ending up with something so long that few will read it. But a “for instance” qualification, I can note that in the 1968 general election for president in Oklahoma, Wallace got more than 20% of the vote, a respectable showing for a third party candidate. But to really understand that percentage is to take into account both Wallace’s strong appeal in many of the southern counties, where he often polled more than 30% and to his relative lack of appeal in many of the northern and western counties, where he often polled just 10-15%.
Mark Byron 05.28.10 at 6:06 am
Wallace won the Michigan Democratic primary for President in 1972 before he got shot. There was a market for his message in the north, but it was stronger in the south. Wallace actually won a few Southern states in 1968 (the last third party candidate to do so other than via renegade electors) and had the race been closer, those Dixiecrat delegates would have thrown the election into the House.
J 05.29.10 at 12:39 am
Joel - I’m not saying the Methodist Church should support the death penalty. Right or wrong, I inferred from your last two paragraphs that you were talking about members of other denominations, and if you think capital punishment is wrong, Methodists are no less culpable than other denominations.
“Racism remains a factor in northern states, but did not seem to keep whites who normally vote Democratic in presidential elections from doing so in 2008″
But your basic premise is that states that wouldn’t vote for Obama wouldn’t do so for racist reasons. Why isn’t it equally likely states that voted against McCain did so for sexist (or ageist) reasons?
Kevin 05.29.10 at 9:26 am
Hey all,
If I could trouble you guys a bit, I was hoping someone could point me to some relevant materials on capital punishment. The arguments that have been given strike me as well-considered and robust, but I was hoping to trace them back to sources I could cite (i.e. not a blog).
Joel, where do you draw your statistics from in your opening post?
J, re: the thought that a popular vote in Britain would legitimize CP, is there a poll or something to corroborate?
I have to admit, it’s hard for me to see where race factors into the matter. I didn’t catch the hint in the first post, and even now I’m not sure how racism could affect public approval for capital punishment or the frequency with which it was administered. The closest correlation I could imagine would be a state where the criminal population was disproportionately of color, blunting the sympathies of the people for criminals in general.
Joel 06.01.10 at 1:12 am
The exact reasons that there seems to be some relationship between the percentage size of the Black population in a state and the percentage of whites who will vote for a Democrat in a national election. The highest percentages, other than in D.C., are in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Maryland. However, Maryland breaks the mold, tilting heavily toward Barack Obama despite 27% of its population being Black. Maryland is an interesting state. Abraham Lincoln got 2.5% of the vote there in 1860 and then shot up to 55% in 1864; after that, Maryland stayed in the Democratic fold until the late 1800’s, and bounced back and forth until voting for a Democrat for president in five straight elections starting in 1992. Maryland had some southern sympathies, but Baltimore was more cosmopolitan and ethnic for the times and the state did not secede.
One of Barack Obama’s worst state numbers were in my home state of Oklahoma. However, as a percentage, at least twice as many white Oklahomans voted for Obama as did whites in Louisiana, Mississippi, etc. Is there some psychology going on? I really don’t know, but for southern states, the tipping point seems to be at about 25% of a state’s population being black. I say “about” because I can’t possibly analyze all the combinations and possibilities. However, look at Georgia. The black population in Georgia is 27.5%. McCain won the state comfortably, 52% to 47%. North Carolina’s black population is 20% of the total. Obama won there by a whisker. Virginia’s population is 20% black. Again, Obama by a whisker. But black population percentages in Louisiana (32%), Mississippi (36%), Alabama (29%), and South Carolina (29%) co-existed with strong to landslide victories for McCain in 2008. In some of these states there are likely other factors, such as military bases, types of jobs available, etc., housing patterns that may be part of the mix in ways I can’t understand.
However, what I do think, for example, is that if Oklahoma’s black population percentage were in the range of 15-20%, I could guess or estimate that instead of Oklahoma being one of Obama’s worst states, at 34% of the total, McCain would probably have won the state by 10 to 16 points, instead of by the 32 point margin McCain actually got.
Looking next door to Arkansas, that state breaks out of the mold some. McCain won 59% to 39%, with a black population percentage of 16%. By the theory of inverse relationship to black population percentage, Obama should have done better in Arkansas, winning as much as 45% of the vote. However, Bill and Hillary Clinton are both popular among Arkansas Democrats (in a general election, about 40% of the population won’t vote for a Clinton for any elected post — Bill Clinton often won easily there, but never by landslides and was ousted as governor in 1980). Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama buried the hatchet nationally, but the wounds from the 2008 primaries never really healed in Arkansas — that’s my assessment, which could be wrong.
Joel 06.01.10 at 1:38 am
Kevin,
While I look very hard to find reliable numbers regarding such things as murder rates, suicide rates, divorce rates, minority population percentages and such, and I work diligently to be a responsible guest blogger, I’ll admit that I do not, after posting or commenting, keep the kind of records that a professional researcher does or should — Richard hasn’t upped my pay in a while.
However, this next weekend I may find the time to go through some of my jottings on web sites visited to provide some of the sources.
J, although the inverse correllations became worse for Obama, the fact is that high black percentage population states, particularly in the South, go back quite a number of election cycles. George H. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in Oklahoma 58% to 41%. However, in South Carolina, with a much higher black percentage of the population, George H. Bush defeated Dukakis 62% to 38%, meaning that Dukakis did far better among white voters where the black percentage is around 7.5%, than in South Carolina, where the black percentage is 29%.
I lived in Alabama for two years and really loved it there. But I did encounter a fair amount of sentiment to the effect of “blacks are taking over” or “they’re getting our jobs.”
Again, though, I don’t pretend that I can reduce this complex voting pattern to one generality alone.
J 06.03.10 at 12:20 am
“is there a poll or something to corroborate?”
I don’t live in the UK; my statement was based on a remark Richard made once that public opinion there probably did favor capital punishment. Here’s a secondary link from Wikipedia that shows 70% support, though I think the questions are leading, so it’s less than that, but still well above 50%:
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=2504
“I’m not trying to either simplify or stereotype the southern or border states. I’m trying to “un-stereotype” other areas of the country.”
I can’t speak to your intent, but you’re definitely stereotyping southern states. Oddly, I’ve seen other Methodist pastors from the south do the same thing, as though they thought they had something to atone for. As a resident of the south who grew up in San Francisco, I disagree that there’s any more racism in one place than another. Indeed, the “their getting our jobs” sentiment is stronger on the west coast than it is in the south, though “they” tends to refer folks from Mexico or India, depending on your place on the economic ladder.
Two other issues of note:
1. Your conclusions would indicate that it is white Democrats who won’t vote for a black candidate.
2. Re murder rates, I’m curious if you’d say “I don’t doubt that there are very complex socio-economic reasons for these facts. But they figures can’t just be written off, either” after comparing state murder rates with certain population characteristics of those states.
John 06.05.10 at 2:41 am
Please find an essay which gives a unique perspective on both capital punishment and killing altogether–including killing of the non-humans and the environment altogether.
http://www.dabase.org/p9rightness.htm
Joel 06.06.10 at 7:49 pm
J,
With respect to your comment of “other Methodist pastors from the South” same is either misplaced or wrong. I am not a southerner and Oklahoma is not a border state. Oklahoma was overwhelmingly settled after the Civil War and did not become a state until 42 years after the end of the Civil War. Yes, Oklahoma “borders” on two states of the old Confederacy and some commentators refer to it as a border state — I think they are wrong. When I wrote “particularly in the South” my reference was meant to be to South Carolina, not Oklahoma. Indeed, I was trying to estimate that if the Black population in Oklahoma were double what it is, it is unlikely that whites would have voted in greater numbers for McCain. I identify myself and the part of Oklahoma I grew up in as part of the southwest. With respect to relatives, my greatest interactions have been with folks in or from New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Wyoming, and Arizona. I’d be proud if I were a southerner, but I am not.
Since 1948, ALL Democratic presidential nominees except Lyndon Johnson have had trouble with gaining a majority of white votes. Winning candidates Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton (twice) and Barack Obama all won while losing the white vote. Again, only Johnson won a majority of the white vote natonwide.
Al Gore carried the popular vote in 2000, of course, but lost in the electoral college. Gore not only lost the white vote nationally, but did not win a majority of the white vote in California, a state he won by a substantial margin. Nevertheless, the white vote outside of the southern states has been substantially more in favor of Democratic nominees.
Obama got the same percentage of the white vote (43%) that Al Gore got in 2000 and that Bill Clinton got in 1996. Obama had a greater overall national vote margin than Gore primarily because black turnout in 2008 was up so much. Obama’s percentage margin overall in 2008 was similar to Clinton’s in 1996. However in 1996, Dole may have been hurt more than Clinton by the relatively poor voter turnout. As well, Ross Perot, though faring far worse than in 1992, likely drained more votes from Dole.
There could be a certain logic in saying that the Republican problem is that blacks won’t vote for Republicans in presidential elections. The difference is that the black vote for Democrats is far more consistent state-to-state than the white vote is for Democrats on a similar basis.
In conclusion, I think whites nationwide bear responsibility for holding blacks back. That view, though, seems to have little to no bearing on the inverse relationship, generally, between black population percentages in a particular state and white votes for Democrats. Since the highest black percentages are in the south, except for D.C., formerly just a federal district, and Maryland, a border state, the thesis of the black population relationship remains valid, in my opinion. And, of course, I started off on the topic of capital punishment anyway.
J 06.08.10 at 2:04 am
Joel - FWIW, I was considering you a southerner due to your birth in LA.
Joel 06.10.10 at 6:39 pm
J,
I understand. My Minnesota-born father was working as a chemist at Lake Charles, LA at that-time.