The murder of a young West Virginia National Guard member on Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C. last month shocked the nation’s conscience. But those expecting a swift application of the death penalty for the alleged killer are in for a jolt.
The average elapsed time from death sentence to execution is now over 23 years, the longest span in U.S. history. A federal judge once called death “the ultimate run-on sentence.” That was in the mid-1990s, when the delay was only 11 years. In the 1980s, it was six years.
