Lots of mixed messages from the latest death penalty headlines

A scan of newspaper headlines this week provides lots of different messages about the status of the death penalty in the United States these days.  When in comes to executions, as these stories show, the death penalty seems quite "in" at least in some states:

• Texas executes man tied to 'bathtub slayings'
• Florida executes rapist who strangled Tampa girl
• Alabama AG Opposes Delaying Bradley Execution
• Houston killer set to be executed on Thursday

But when it comes to legislative reforms, as these stories show, the the death penalty seems quite "out" in some other states:

• Senate panel advances bill to abolish death penalty (from Montana)
• Legislator works to repeal state's death penalty (from New Hampshire)
• Proposal to abolish the death penalty draws almost no opposition (from Washington)

UPDATE:  The DPIC has this little item noting all the legislative activity afoot in the arena of capital punishment:

Several states have recently introduced legislation to abolish or limit the death penalty. Bills to end capital punishment have been introduced in at least eight states: Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, New Hampshire, Maryland, Washington, and Kansas. For some of these states, the high costs of the death penalty has been an important factor in the legislative debates. For example, Colorado’s bill to abolish the death penalty specifies that the money saved from not pursuing executions could be used for solving cold cases.

Other states, such as Virginia and Georgia, have proposed legislation that would expand the use of capital punishment.