Doug Berman has, "Why I obsess over courts and others obsessing over the death penalty." A tempting excerpt:
The latest BJS stats on state felony sentencing provide me a statistical reminder about why I obsess over undue obsession about the death penalty. Consider these basic number from this report:
In 2004 State courts convicted an estimated 1,079,000 adults of a felony....
Among the estimated 8,400 persons convicted of murder or nonnegligent manslaughter in 2004, 20.4% were sentenced to life in prison. In 2004, 29 States received 115 prisoners under sentence of death.
In other words, only roughly 1 in every 10,000 state felony sentences is a death sentence, and only 1 in 75 sentences for intentional homicide is a death sentence.
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