European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 05, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stripes Magazine is the death penalty dying out by Larry Knutson a Saff writer death appears to be dying As the supreme penalty of american jus Tice even though most states cling to capital punishment statutes. A Survey by the associated pres showed that 13 states have abolished the death penalty or so severely restricted its use that it is almost nonexistent. Some states have not executed a Crimi Nal in decades. Most death penalties Are imposed for murder. But some states can execute for rape kidnapping armed robbery and or treason against the state. In Oklahoma the death penalty legally can be imposed for peddling narcotics to minors. In Connecticut causing death by Tam Pering with Railroad tracks or by will fully burning any vessel or building Are crimes punishable by death. Another state can impose death for burglary fan inhabited House at night. But death at the hands of the state i becoming a rarity and the voice of the abolitionists is louder and More fre quent. Executions have been abolished in Alaska Hawaii Iowa Maine Michigan Minnesota North Dakota Oregon West Virginia and wis Consin. It has been abolished with qualifications in new York and Vermont an has been on the books in Rhode Island since 1864but never used. The death penalty was abolished bythe new York legislature in 1965. An exclusion involves persons who kill policemen or kill while escaping from prison. The Vermont legislature repealed capital punishment Laws in 1965, except in cases where a second murder is committed or a police officer is killed in the line of duty. The Rhode Island Law applies Only to persons who Are sentenced to life imprisonment for first degree murder an who later Are convicted of another first degree murder. That specific situation has never Arisen in the state. Maryland new Mexico and Nort Carolina currently Are prime targets of abolitionist activity. Bills to eliminate the death penalty were Defeated by narrow margins in recent legislative sessions. In California a major court test is being sought in the Wake of legislative action. Recurrent Bills to eliminate the death penalty have been introduced Inmany states but either were Defeated w died in committee. Other abolitionist attempts have Bee made without Success in recent years in Montana Illinois Ohio Indiana sout Carolina Texas Oklahoma Pennsyl Vania Nevada Arkansas Tennessee Utah Idaho. Virginia Washington Mississippi Nebraska Missouri connect Cut new Jersey and Louisiana. In the november 1966 election Colo Rado voters Defeated an abolition Meas ure by a 2-1 margin. San Quentin s Green room the Gas chamber May be on its Way out. Up several abolition Bills in Massachusetts were killed shortly after the escape from a mental institution of Albert de Salvo the Man who Calls himself the Boston Strangler. Legislators cited the escape and a recent flurry of Gangland killings in the Boston area. But opponents of capital punishment continue to fight. The abolitionists contend that the deterrent Factor the traditional argument for retaining capital punishment is a myth. The death penalty is related to the homicide rate in the same Way an Indian rain dance is related to the production of rain says a leading Midwest advocate of abolition. When the Rains come they  to abolish the death penalty have quickened Over the last  is an Active corps of abolitionists in nearly every state. Among the Lead ers Are the american civil liberties Union and the National association forthe advancement of coloured people. They Point to the statistics on All executions in the United states Between 1930 and 1956. Of the 3,856 persons executed in that period the abolitionists state 54 per cent were non White. Of White persons executed they hold the majority lacked funds to pay for an Ade quate defense. When they execute for rape said Hans w. Mattick associate director of the Center for studies in criminal jus Tice at the University of Chicago Law school at least 90 per cent Are  the abolitionists Are attacking Capi Tal punishment under the provisions of the first amendment to the . Constitution barring cruel and  one of their arguments is the increasing rarity of the punishment itself. There Are some 9,200 homicides year Mattick said. When Only an average of 10 persons Are executed i begins to look like a  Mattick and other abolitionists printout that persons who Are against the death penalty Are automatically excluded from juries in capital cases. They contend this kind of elimination leads to juries preconditioned to find defend ants guilty and to recommend death. Although Many Legislatures go through an annual process of killing All capital punishment Bills the death penalty re Mains a threat that is not often carried out. In Georgia for example an unofficial moratorium on executions is in effect. Gov. Lester g. Maddox has said he will ask the 1968 legislature to Call a referendum on the retention of the death penalty. Some 20 men Are now awaiting execution in the state. In Florida the Acle has obtained a injunction from the . District court in Jacksonville barring further executions until settlement of a suit Challenge ing the state s murder Laws. In 1965 a state legislative study com Mittee recommended abolition of the state s murder Laws and gov. Haydo Burns refused to sign any death War rants during his two year term of  Are now 52 men awaiting execution in the state. There have been no executions in Ken Tucky since gov. Edward t. Breathitt was elected in 1963. He was not Success Ful in a 1966 attempt to get an abolition Bill through the legislature. A capital punishment remains the Law in California but All executions were stayed until aug. 24 by order of . Dist. Court judge Robert Peckham in san Francisco. The judge held full scale hearings on briefs seeking to have the state s death penalty declared unconstitutional. The briefs were drawn up by a group of attorneys partly financed by the Legal de sense fund of the a act. Peckham on aug. 24 refused to extend the stay for All but three of those facing execution ruling that each condemned Man must bring individual Legal action. He also set up procedures by which the men in California prisons could seek Legal help. However his action left the status of California capital punishment open to further questioning. Judge Peckham Wasto continue study of the briefs filed for the original three facing death. Gov. Ronald Reagan who support capital punishment appealed through state Legal channels the original stay order and the judge s ruling in effect sided with the governor. But Reagan has granted executive clemency for one of the condemned men who appealed. Thursday the stars and stripes Page 11