Old Sparky

On Friday, the United States reached a milestone of epic proporations. On that day, 57-year old Vietnam veteran Lee Boyd became the 1000th person to be executed in this country since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated. I don't really have a lot to say about it at the moment. But I thought I'd post a few statistics that I found interesting: • In 2004, according to Amnesty International, 97 percent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the U.S. • Eight countries since 1990 are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years old at the time of the crime: China, Congo (Democratic Republic), Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA and Yemen. The U.S. executed more child offenders than any other country (22 since 1976). • Since 1973, 122 prisoners have been released in the U.S. after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death • Since 1976, 34 people have been executed in the U.S. who displayed evidence of mental retardation • Number of males executed in the U.S. since 1976: 989 • Number of females executed in the U.S. since 1976: 11 • Number of blacks executed in the U.S. since 1976: 337 • Number of whites executed in the U.S. since 1976: 577 • Number of blacks executed for murdering white victims since 1976: 203 • Number of whites executed for murdering black victims since 1976: 18 • Number of executions in Texas since 1976: 355 • Number of executions overseen by George W. Bush since 1994: 155 (152 while governor plus 3 federal executions while President) • Studies in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, and Kansas have concluded that the death penalty is far more expensive (often by millions of dollars) than life in prison • According to the FBI's Preliminary Uniform Crime Report for 2002, the murder rate in the South increased by 2.1% while the murder rate in the Northeast decreased by almost 5%. The South accounts for 82% of all executions since 1976; the Northeast accounts for less than 1%. • Data released by the British Home Office reveals that the United States, which retains the death penalty, has a murder rate that is more than three times that of many of its European allies that have banned capital punishment. It appears that our President is a serial killer. (h/t: Washingtonrox)