The musings of a juggling mother

Rants & raves about life as a woman today, juggling work, home, kids, family, life the universe & everything.

© Mrs Aginoth. The right of Mrs Aginoth to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988

Friday, December 02, 2005

State murder

The USA has passed a grim milestone today, by executing it's 1000th prisoner since re-introducing the death penalty in 1976.

As seen from the table below (source), this marks the freedom loving USA as the 4th most murderous state in the world, following behind such enlightened regimes as China, Iran and Vietnam.

Most Executions in 2004

1. CHINA
(At least 3,400 Executions)

2. IRAN
(Approx. 159)

3. VIET NAM
(Approx. 64)

4. UNITED STATES
(59)



5. Saudi Arabia (33)

6. Pakistan (15)

7. Kuwait (9)

8. Bangladesh (7)




9. Egypt (6)

Singapore (6)

Yemen (6)
It's good to know they have taken it upon themselves to ensure all states around the world will follow their regime of freedom, enlightenment and justice for all, isn't it?

Looking at the US states that do & do not have the death penalty, I wonder vif anyone has done much research on it's effect? For example, look at this map and can anyone tell me if Kansas (no death penalty) crime statistics are higher/worse than Texas' (highest number of executions of all states)?

UPDATE: as requested by a couple of commenters, below is a breakdown of the number of executions carried out by each state:



Executions since 1976, by jurisdiction
Jurisdiction Executions
since 1976

(as of December 2, 2005)[1][2]
Inmates on Death Row
(as of July 1, 2005)[3]
Texas 355 414
Virginia 94 23
Oklahoma 79 97
Missouri 66 55
Florida 60 388
Georgia 39 112
North Carolina 39 192
Alabama 34 191
South Carolina 34 77
Arkansas 27 38
Louisiana 27 89
Arizona 22 128
Ohio 19 196
Indiana 16 30
Delaware 14 19
Illinois 12 10
Nevada 11 85
California 11 648
Mississippi 6 70
Utah 6 10
Maryland 4 9
Washington 4 10
Pennsylvania 3 233
U.S. Federal Gov't. 3 36
Nebraska 3 10
Kentucky 2 37
Montana 2 4
Oregon 2 32
Tennessee 1 108
Idaho 1 21
Connecticut 1 8
Colorado 1 3
New Mexico 1 2
Wyoming 1 2
New Jersey 0 14
Kansas
(On December 17, 2004, the death penalty statute of Kansas was declared unconstitutional)
0 7
U.S. Military 0 8
New York
(On June 24, 2004, the death penalty statute of New York was declared unconstitutional)
0 2
South Dakota 0 4
New Hampshire 0 0
United States
total
1,000 3,415*

13 Comments:

  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 9:39:00 pm, Blogger dena said…

    If you check the US stats, state by state, I bet Virginia would lead the list or at least come in second behind Texas. I live in Virginia, and we execute more than we convict. Yikes.

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 9:44:00 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I agree...it'd be interesting to see the stats of the US executions in comparison.

    Hi, via michele's!

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 9:45:00 pm, Blogger Spock said…

    Hi. Followed you home from Michelle's but you can't keep me, Mom would miss me bad!

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 10:25:00 pm, Blogger Candace said…

    Hello via Michele. I'd rather live where you are than here (Texas, that is).

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 10:42:00 pm, Blogger Aginoth said…

    main problem of course is the fact that some innocent people will be killed by the state...hard to make much of an appeal after you're dead.

    Several cases have surfaced in teh UK of innocent people being hung, as forensics improved and witnesses appeared decades after teh event.

    Glad to say the UK ooks fairly certain to never reintroduce this barbaric practice.

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 10:45:00 pm, Blogger Thumper said…

    face it, the death penalty doesn't work, and when you get right down to it, if you execute someone who's proven innocent later, you can't bring them back. And it costs a heck of a lot more to keep someone on death row, with all the appeals, than it does to lock someone up for life with no parole.

    It's not effective, and its expensive. Even without the moral implications it makes no sense.

    Here via Michele's today!

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 10:47:00 pm, Blogger Karen said…

    Wow. Those are some pretty sobering statistics.

    Here via Michele!

     
  • At Friday, December 02, 2005 10:58:00 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    a sobering thought -- the US need to spread the same amount of "freedom" to all; it was also announced today that torture still happens in chinese prisons -- yet the Chinese government allowed a reporter unfettered access to the prisons to see for himself. When the same reporter asked the US Government for access to Guantanamo...you guessed, it. The answer was a unanimous "NO". I don't know how all of this will pan out, but your post helps get these issues out in the open able to be discussed. That's a good thing.

    here via michele's...

     
  • At Saturday, December 03, 2005 2:21:00 am, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    A grim milestone indeed ! I will make a mental note never to step the wrong side of the law in Texas though!

     
  • At Saturday, December 03, 2005 9:36:00 am, Blogger OldLady Of The Hills said…

    Horrifying stats. Horrifying that killing is sanctioned under these laws. It's wrong to kill, no matter what. Just because 'The Law' is on your side doesn't make the killing any less of a murder, no matter how you try to argue that point. (I don't mean you, of course..)
    Right now, here in California Stanley 'Tookie' Williams is scheduled to be executed (read MURDERED) on, I believe, December 13th. This is such a horrendous and terrifying example of the state ignoring everything about this man....It will be very interesting to see what our Governer will do or not do in terms of this case....We are such a horribly violent country. I find it increasingly frightening--the state of our posture on so very many violent issues...not the least of which is Iraq. DELIVER US! Please.

    What you bring up is so very important, Mrs. A. Thank You.

    Oh and I forgot to say, that Michele sent me this time!

     
  • At Saturday, December 03, 2005 10:22:00 am, Blogger craziequeen said…

    Morning honey - MSM :-)

    just checking in.....

    see you later :-)

    cq

     
  • At Sunday, December 04, 2005 11:58:00 pm, Blogger David Edward said…

    New York is run by dolts-
    Notice that in Calif we have this backlog of convicts waiting, I think it is a compromise of their right to die that they should wait so long, I am willing to help the process but the governor does not like my recent suggestions, I shall revise them into something more subtle and humane, perhaps hanging?

     
  • At Monday, December 05, 2005 11:17:00 am, Blogger Juggling Mother said…

    I did wonder about the 35 people waiting on death row in states that no longer have the death penalty?

    I see that California has more people waiting than any other state, and judging by their past performance it will take them over 60 years to catch up, assuming no-one else is convicted!

    Perhaps you should run for Governer & sort it all out David:-)

     

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