That the title of an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch exploring why so many executions occur in the old South. LINK
The number of executions have dropped in Texas and Virginia, and death sentences are down in both states. Nationally, there has been a 60 percent drop in death sentences since 1999.
In the past year and a half, Virginia has had one execution. In the past two years, it had three death sentences. However, execution dates have been set for two killers this month in Virginia. And Texas has executed 13 so far this year.
Dieter said geographic and other disparities make the words of one U.S. Supreme Court justice in 1972 ring true today: "It is impossible to distinguish the few cases that receive the death penalty from the many that are eligible. Such a punishment is arbitrary and therefore cruel and unusual."
Defenders say geographic disparity simply shows that the death penalty is used where the public and judiciary most strongly support it.
Why the South leads the nation in executions is a complicated question with no definitive answer, say historians.
The Times-Dispatch also has a sidebar stating that Virginia carries out the highest rate of excutions to death sentences imposed. LINK
Through the end of 2004, Virginia had executed 65 percent of the 144 people sentenced to death in the state. The next closest state, Missouri, executed 35 percent. The national average is 12.5 percent, according to available federal figures.
Comments