Postponed execution tests a region's views on crime

Within New England, it is Massachusetts that has been the most vigorous in pursuing a reinstatement of the death penalty. It was banned in the state in 1984. Legislation to reinstate it failed in a tie vote in 1997. Now Gov. Mitt Romney (R) is trying his hand at it. He formed a committee to explore a foolproof death penalty that would narrowly define the qualifiable crimes and require a standard of "no doubt" in assessing guilt using scientific evidence.

Yet despite Romney's moves and Ross's pending execution, the support for the death penalty has been waning nationally over the past several years. According to the Gallup Organization, 80 percent of Americans supported the death penalty in 1994. That number dropped to 66 percent in 2004.

Experts say that the use of DNA, which has helped reverse many erroneous convictions, has made some Americans skeptical.

Today, only two of New England's six states even have the death penalty: Connecticut and New Hampshire. The other four - Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont - are among a dozen states nationwide without it.

For many New Englanders, capital punishment relates more to the era of witches being hanged than to the current day. New Hampshire has not executed anyone since 1939 and has no one on death row. Rhode Island's last execution was in 1845, Maine's in 1885, Massachusetts' in 1947, and Vermont's in 1954.

In contrast, Texas has executed 337 people since 1976, followed by Virginia at 94, and Oklahoma with 75, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington.

Connecticut's overwhelming support for putting Ross to death may reflect that residents want the worst possible punishment for a confessed serial killer - and in Connecticut that punishment is execution. That is appropriate punishment, says Mr. Blecker. "Ross represents the worst of the worst. If anyone deserves to die, he is among them."

After appealing his execution several times, Ross has resigned himself to the punishment. He has maintained that he believes in the long run his appeals will be unsuccessful and would like not to cause the family of the victims more pain.

Whether experts believe his assertion or not, some say it is one reason the execution probably would not have a domino effect in the region. For one thing, there are few people on death row in New England. And, says Dieter. "If people challenge a statute or their own convictions, that has nothing to do with someone who isn't challenging anything."

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