FEATURED POST

Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

Image
Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

In Death Penalty’s Steady Decline, Some Experts See a Societal Shift

Polunsky Unit, Texas
Polunsky Unit, Texas
The death penalty in the United States continued its pattern of broad decline in 2013, with experts attributing the low numbers to a critical shortage of drugs used for lethal injection, increasing public concern over judicial mistakes and the expense of capital cases, and a growing preference for life without parole.

Eighty death sentences were imposed by American courts this year, compared with a peak of 315 in 1994, and 39 executions took place, compared with 98 in 1999, according to an annual accounting released on Thursday by the Death Penalty Information Center, a private group in Washington.

“A societal shift is underway,” said Richard Dieter, the executive director of the information center, which opposes capital punishment.


Source: The New York Times, December 19, 2013

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

Cruel and Unusual: Documentary explores epicenter of Texas’ prison system

Missouri | Man Facing Execution Next Month Is Hospitalized With Heart Problem

Tennessee | New law allows death penalty for child rape

Iran’s Execution Spree Continues

SCOTUS declines death penalty cases on jury selection, right to counsel