Texas is moving closer to an unflattering jubilee: the 500th execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 – barring any last-minute stays or reprieves. This Wednesday, June 12, Texas will execute its 499th person, and execution no. 500 is scheduled for June 26. Texas uses the death penalty more than any other state, and the competition does not even come close.
No. 2 on the execution list is Virginia, which has killed 110 people – and only five since 2010. Texas has executed more people than the next six states (Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Alabama and Georgia) combined. It wasn’t always so. Texas executed fewer than 10 people a year until 1992, when executions spiked under then-Governor Ann Richards. They peaked under George W. Bush, who sent 37 people to the death chamber in 1997 and 40 in 2000.
The Texans put to death are disproportionately African-American.
Americans’ support for the death penalty as punishment for murder has levelled off in recent years after several years in which support appeared to be falling. Sixty-three percent now favour the death penalty as the punishment for murder, similar to 61% in 2011 and 64% in 2010, according to polls conducted by Gallup.
Since the Boston bombings, the numbers have nudged up a bit. The majority or at least plurality of most demographic and political groups is in broad agreement about supporting the death penalty as punishment for murder.
One exception to that is adults who describe their political views as “liberal.” Just under half of liberals, 47%, favour the death penalty, while 50% oppose it. However, most conservatives and moderates support it, as do majorities of all party groups, including 51% of Democrats. Additionally, non-whites are closely divided on the issue, with 49% in favour and 45% opposed. That contrasts with whites, among whom 68% are in favour.
Source: Euronews, June 11, 2013
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