The Patriot-News: Pennsylvania's death penalty: special project coming next week

[Stefanie Faucher]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/12/a_close_look_at_pennsylvanias.html

Pennsylvania's death penalty: special project coming next week
The Patriot-News
By Jan Murphy | jmu...@pennlive.com
December 31, 2014 at 11:57 AM, updated December 31, 2014 at 1:24 PM

In 2014, 35 people were executed in the United States, the fewest in 20 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. None happened in Pennsylvania.

Based on Gov.-elect Tom Wolf's stance on this issue, don't look for that to change, at least for the near term. Some suggest 2015 could be the year Pennsylvania begins a serious conversation about whether to keep the death penalty or abolish it.

For that reason, PennLive dug into this issue to help our readers gain a better understanding of the various perspectives on capital punishment and issues surrounding it. We also will provide you with galleries of the faces of inmates on death row.

Here's the schedule:

On Monday: An overview of what is precipitating this conversation on the death penalty as well as a Q&A answering some basic questions about it.

On Tuesday: Perspectives on capital punishment from individuals who have looked in the faces of those who have been sentenced to die.

On Wednesday: Mother of murder victim Leslie White tells her story about waiting for her daughter's killers to die. We also will hold an hour-long Q&A with experts on both sides of the death penalty issue beginning at 12:30 p.m.

On Thursday: We provide some insight into what life on death row is like based on a visit we made to State Correctional Institution Greene, where most of the state's capital cases are housed. Additionally, we will provide some more facts, figures and perspectives on the death penalty.

Throughout the week, we will be polling readers on the issue to track whether stories about the death penalty have changed any minds.



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Stefanie Faucher
Communications Director
8th Amendment Project
sfau...@8thamendment.org
Mobile 510.393.4549
8thamendment.org