Post by thinkinkmesa on Sept 22, 2011 9:21:28 GMT -5
3,250 Other Death Row Lives on the Line
COMMENTARY | The state of Georgia executed convicted cop killer Troy Davis on Wednesday, despite massive international protest and a last-minute Supreme Court review. Hundreds of thousands of people petitioned the Board to grant clemency including such notables at former President Jimmy Carter, former FBI director William Sessions and the Pope.
The outcry over implementation of Davis' death sentence demonstrates why it's time to put an end to the practice of state-sponsored executions.
Death Penalty Relic of Times Past
According to Amnesty USA, two-thirds of the world's countries no longer employ the death penalty. Ninety-six countries have abolished it outright for all crimes, while nine others have banned it for ordinary crimes but permit its use by military tribunals and in other extraordinary circumstances. Thirty-four additional countries whose laws permit the death penalty have ceased imposing it, some with explicit assurances that they have no intention of doing so.
Not a single European country employs the death penalty. The United States stands alongside countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan in imposing state-sanctioned death sentences.
There were 3,251 people in the U.S. under death sentences as of January, including Davis. While the world trend is to abandon the death penalty, the U.S. has increased its imposition some 600 percent in the last 40 years.
More;
news.yahoo.com/troy-davis-3-250-other-death-row-lives-171400935.html
COMMENTARY | The state of Georgia executed convicted cop killer Troy Davis on Wednesday, despite massive international protest and a last-minute Supreme Court review. Hundreds of thousands of people petitioned the Board to grant clemency including such notables at former President Jimmy Carter, former FBI director William Sessions and the Pope.
The outcry over implementation of Davis' death sentence demonstrates why it's time to put an end to the practice of state-sponsored executions.
Death Penalty Relic of Times Past
According to Amnesty USA, two-thirds of the world's countries no longer employ the death penalty. Ninety-six countries have abolished it outright for all crimes, while nine others have banned it for ordinary crimes but permit its use by military tribunals and in other extraordinary circumstances. Thirty-four additional countries whose laws permit the death penalty have ceased imposing it, some with explicit assurances that they have no intention of doing so.
Not a single European country employs the death penalty. The United States stands alongside countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan in imposing state-sanctioned death sentences.
There were 3,251 people in the U.S. under death sentences as of January, including Davis. While the world trend is to abandon the death penalty, the U.S. has increased its imposition some 600 percent in the last 40 years.
More;
news.yahoo.com/troy-davis-3-250-other-death-row-lives-171400935.html