The Electoral Dynamics of Capital Punishment Commutations

In: State politics & policy quarterly: the official journal of the State Politics and Policy section of the American Political Science Association, Band 24, Heft 1, S. 99-109

Abstract

AbstractWe explore electoral explanations for U.S. governors' willingness to commute death sentences in their state. Across descriptive tests and pre-registered regression specifications, we find little evidence that election timing or term limits affect either the probability of commuting death sentences or the proportion of such sentences governors might commute. However, we do find evidence that governors are more likely to commute sentences – and commute sentences for a higher proportion of defendants – during the "lame duck" period after their successor's election but before their inauguration.