BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Alabama ranks second in the nation for the number of executions it conducted in 2011 and is tied for third in death sentences imposed this year, statistics compiled by the
Death Penalty Information Center show.
"Alabama is one of the leading death penalty states in the country," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based DPIC. "It is a leader in executions and death sentences, both in absolute numbers and per capita."
Alabama ranks 23rd nationally in population but has the country's fifth-largest death-row population. Its 55 executions since 1976, when a four-year national moratorium on the death penalty was lifted, puts Alabama sixth among states allowing capital punishment.
Alabama put six murderers to death by lethal injection in 2011, accounting for 14 percent of the 43 executions nationwide, according to the annual year-end report by the clearinghouse on death penalty statistics.
Texas, with 13 executions this year, led the nation. No more executions are set this year in any of the 34 states that allow capital punishment, the DPIC said.
Source:
al.com, December 28, 2011
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