The Announced Death of Albert Brown Is Delayed

Albert Greenwood Brown was expecting to be executed today, Sept. 30, at 9 p.m. Almost 30 years ago he kidnapped, raped and murdered a 15-year-old girl, Susan Jordan. Albert had already chosen his last meal, but 30 hours before his announced death the plans were dashed. The Attorney General gave the order to stop the syringe that had been loaded with the lethal injection of sodium thiopental.

Brown would have been the first person executed in California in over four years; Federal Judge Jeremy Fogel halted the execution until it could be demonstrated that the method of lethal injection utilized in that state did not represent a cruel and unconstitutional punishment. California uses three injections to execute the condemned. The first is used to prevent the intense pain that the other two cause, but it remains to be seen if it is truly effective.

The state has adopted new procedures for capital punishment, but it needed the judge’s permission to reinitiate executions. He stated that eight days were not sufficient to ensure that the new injections comply with the Constitution. By the time the judge makes a decision this Friday, Oct. 1, the only supply of lethal injections that the state has will be several hours past their expiration date. So whatever the judge says, practically all executions will be stopped until the end of the year due to supply problems.

“Our sympathies go out to the family of Susan Jordan, who was killed by Albert Brown nearly 30 years ago. They have been on a cruel legal roller-coaster for decades,” said Judy Kerr, who lost her brother to a homicide and is now a coordinator for the organization Victims of Crime in California for an Alternative to the Death Penalty (CCVADP). “We cannot imagine what the events of the last few weeks have been like for them.”

According to a 2009 survey conducted by Craig Haney, a professor at the University of Santa Cruz, two-thirds of Californians would prefer to replace capital punishment with life in prison without parole, with the requirement that the inmate work and economically compensate the family of the victim.

The organization Death Penalty Focus (DPF) argues that it would be much easier for victims’ families if murderers were punished with life in prison, having to work to contribute economically. And the yo-yo nature of capital justice can drive someone crazy.

“Life without possibility of parole is swift and certain punishment.” remarked Lance Lindsey, Executive Director of DPF, upon learning the news. “By replacing the death penalty with life without possibility of parole we would save the families of murder victims from this painful, legal rollercoaster ride. And the state will save $1 billion in five years and avoid legal chaos like this.”

The economic crisis invites consideration of whether death row makes sense. According to James Clark of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “The death penalty in California costs ten times more than life without possibility of parole. At this time of budget crisis, we should replace the death penalty and use the money saved to invest in public safety and education.”

The first capital punishment in California was in 1878, with the shooting of four Native Americans accused of conspiracy to commit murder. Until the Supreme Court halted capital punishment in 1972, 709 executions were performed. The death penalty was implemented again in 1977, and since then 14 prisoners have been executed. Meanwhile, the state’s death row has become the largest, with more than 700 inmates.