Trial, Error, and the Abolition of the Death Penalty

• Author: Thomas L. Coffey,Jerry L. Morton
• DOI: 10.1177/104398628900500406
• Published date: 01 December 1989
• Date: 01 December 1989
• Subject Matter: Articles

248

Trial,

Error,

and

the

Abolition

of

the

Death

Penalty

by

Thomas

L.

Coffey

and

Jerry

L.

Morton

Abstract

The

abolition

of the

death

penalty

for

murder

in

the

United

States

and

English

speaking

world

first

occurred

in

Michigan

in

1846.

Prominent

Michigan

historians

have

maintained

that

two

executions

were

pivotal

in

creating

popular

support

for

abolition.

One

execution

referred

to

in

this

article

of

a

man

named

Simmons

has

previously

been

well

described.

The

other,

the

Canadian

execution

of

a

man

named

Fitzpatrick,

has

never

been

documented.

This

article

documents

the

crime,

arrest,

detention,

trial,

sentence,

appeal

and

execution

of

Fitzpatrick.

It

briefly

analyzes

the

relationship

between

Fitzpatrick’s

hanging

and

Michigan’s

historic

position

on

the

death

penalty.

In

the

long,

turbulent

and

bloody

history

of

the

right

of

a

government

to

take

the

life

of

its

citizens,

Michigan

occupies

a

special

place.

For

in

its

152

years

of

statehood,

Michigan

has

never

executed

a

man

or

woman

for

murder-or

any

other

crime-and,

barring

a

constitutional

amendment,

never

will.

This

makes

Michigan

unique

among

governments

throughout

the

world

and

throughout

time.

The

European

region

of

Tuscany,

in

1765,

saw

fit

to

abolish

the

death

penalty,

but

only

for 41

years.

It

was

left

to

Michigan,

in

1846,

to

become

the

first

American

state

government

to

eliminate

capital

punishment,

an

event

which

inspired

New

York

Legislator

James

Titus

to

proclaim

a

year

later

that

&dquo;The

sun

has

risen

in

the

West

and

its

light

has

penetrated

the

darkness

of

the

East.&dquo;(Davis

1957)

&dquo;The

East&dquo;

could

have

meant

more

man

the

eastern

United

States,

for

Michigan,

besides

being

the

first

state

to

eliminate

the

death

penalty

for

murder,

was

the

first

English-speaking

political

unit

in

the

world

to

do

so.

Michigan

remains

the

first

government

to

permanently

abolish

the

death

penalty

for

murder.

This

unique

facet

of the

state’s

history

has

long

intrigued

Michigan

historians

who

seek

not

merely