Death sentences, executions take 'historic drop,' report says:

Death sentences, executions take 'historic drop,' report says: The release of the annual report by the Death Penalty Information Center follows recent polls showing a withering of support for capital punishment over controversial cases like that of Troy Davis, who was executed in Georgia in September. The decline in the use of the death penalty also has likely been influenced by states’ worsening financial conditions, said Richard Dieter, the center’s executive director.

            Executions by state
State           2011   2010
Texas              13     17
Alabama           6      5
Ohio                 5      8
Georgia             4      2
Arizona             4      1
Oklahoma         2      3
Mississippi        2     3
Florida              2     1
Virginia             1     3
South Carolina  1     0
Missouri            1    0
Delaware           1    0
Idaho                 1    0
Louisiana            0    1
Utah                   0    1
Washington        0     1
        Total         43    46


I've said it before but many of us have a moral problem with the death penalty in light of the many recently highlight cases of those put to death who were railroaded and were innocent.. Plain and simple, it's barbaric. I don't care whether it's Davis, an African American who steadfastly proclaimed he did not murder Mark MacPhail, a white, off-duty police officer; or Lawrence Brewer, one of three white assailants convicted in the dragging death of James Byrd who was murdered for being black. Brewer was executed in Texas, the capital-punishment capital, also Wednesday, In fact, Texas has walked 475 people to slaughter since 1976.

I thought we were making progress but what the hell is going on of late? Illinois joined the ranks of those outlawing the death penalty! I am glad for the historic drop but why can't the entire US at least use the death penalty only in obvious deserved necessary cases?

The last fifteen death row inmates in Illinois will live out their days in jail cells, instead of dying on a execution gurney, now that capital punishment has officially ended in the state. What are your thoughts on that? The ban took effect on Friday, July 1st But the state Department of Corrections began emptying the death row cells in Pontiac in March. The prisoners have been evaluated and moved to other maximum security facilities throughout Illinois, department spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinnz signed into law a ban on the death penalty on March 9, saying it was impossible to fix a system that had wrongly condemned at least 20 innocent men. Illinois death row inmates moved to regular jail cells No kidding!

China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, and the United States lead the world in carrying out the most death sentences. Amnesty International: Death penalty on decline, US in top 5 That's quite the company to be proud of isn't it?

What do you think about the death penalty? My thoughts below; Thirty-four states, including Virginia and Maryland, allow capital punishment. All use lethal injection, and, until recently, most had used a three-drug cocktail: sodium thiopental to render the condemned unconscious, pancuronium bromide to paralyze the prisoner and potassium chloride to stop the heart. They can no longer get their hands on it. What do you think about the death penalty? My thoughts below

states with the death penalty

Alabama Missouri
Arizona Montana
Arkansas Nebraska
California Nevada
Colorado New Hampshire
Connecticut North Carolina
Delaware Ohio
Florida Oklahoma
Georgia Oregon
Idaho Pennsylvania
Indiana South Carolina
Kansas South Dakota
Kentucky Tennessee
Louisiana Texas
Maryland Utah
Mississippi Virginia
Washington
Wyoming
US military
US Government


States now without the death penalty


Alaska
Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia

Wisconsin
Dist. of Colombia

If you read my stories in the past on this you know I have mixed feelings on the death penalty. Often times a person may be arrested and sentenced to death knowing they were innocent just to further someone's career or to quell the public. Now that we have DNA testing we are finding too often we have the wrong man. We have seen it too often

I do believe the death penalty is justified as in the case of the Fort Hood shootings and the Jared Loughner's shootings where they should be put to death immediately with no trial. They should not have a venue to plead their case. Sane or insane they did it wantonly and publicly, that is all that matters. Cases like those aside I am no longer comfortable with the death penalty being justified because of the horror of the crime because we can not be certain we have the right person unless we actually see them do the deserved crime.

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com