Number of people being executed drops as cost rockets

[INACTIVE_USER]

Execution numbers in the US penitentiary system have dropped by 12%, claims a new report.

Changing attitudes are seen as one of the reasons for execution numbers falling

According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, the number of people being executed fell over the last year, while those sentenced to die in the US is at its lowest since 1976.

The report attributes the numbers to changing attitudes toward capital punishment, problems with the availability of lethal injection chemicals and rising costs in death penalty prosecutions.

A total of 46 people were put to death in Texas, Ohio, Florida, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona, Virginia, Washington, Utah, Oklahoma and Mississippi during 2010.

The figure is down on the 52 executions carried out in 2009.

Thirty-five US states still actively practise the death penalty, though a number of these - South Carolina, Missouri, Indiana and Tennessee - did not execute anyone in 2010.

"Whether it’s concerns about the high costs of the death penalty at a time when budgets are being slashed, the risks of executing the innocent, unfairness, or other reasons, the nation continued to move away from the death penalty in 2010," said the report’s author, Richard Dieter.

The report cites a recent poll, which showed a clear majority (61%) of the public favoured some form of life imprisonment, while only 33% supported the death penalty as a form of punishment.

Despite this, the report added that the difficulty in obtaining sodium thiopental, one the chemicals used in lethal injections, could also be a factor in the lower numbers.

Executions were either delayed or cancelled in five states due to a lack of the chemical being available.

Arizona has previously imported it from the UK, but exports have now been restricted due to Britain's objection to the death penalty.

[KylieEatWorld]

Well that's good, I guess.

[Azunite]

They just just abolish execution anyway.

[Amnesiac]

I'm still waiting for them to abolish it. Life in prison is a much worse punishment anyway.

[UnknownError]

Im agreeing with everyone above. They need to ditch it except for extreme circumstances.

[Continuum]

I'm still waiting for them to abolish it. Life in prison is a much worse punishment anyway.

I'm not up to it in case we're dealing with the world's sickest minds. Most of them are miserable with their state, really.

[Sogeking]

Where's the source?

The only reason I think people still cling to the death penalty is that the criminal will go to hell to endure everlasting pain and suffering. But times has changed, and so has the attitudes toward the death penalty. But why resort to expensive chemicals to deal with criminals? Why not go back to the old ways of executing people? Such as hanging. How hard is it to get a rope?

I don't support the death penalty, life sentence is the worser punishment. But the system needs to be fixed so that the prisons don't become overcrowded.

[Sith Lord 13]

Life in prison is a much worse punishment anyway.

Exactly. I feel it's cruel, if not unusual. I'd rather see life in prison abolished than the death penalty abolished.

[Amnesiac]

I'm not up to it in case we're dealing with the world's sickest minds. Most of them are miserable with their state, really.

Well, if they're mentally insane or something where they're suffering greatly just through living, then I'd approve of it (but it'd be more like euthanasia than execution).

Exactly. I feel it's cruel, if not unusual. I'd rather see life in prison abolished than the death penalty abolished.

So you're in favor of the death penalty, or you just like it better than life in prison?

[Daniel_]

I say do it old fashioned stile, just take 'em out back with the shotgun.

As for getting rid of the death penalty, no i do not agree. I think it is a great idea, especially when prisons can't afford to hold their in mates. I say they should use the people on death row for medical testing, so the good can prosper with new technologies in medicine to prove for much healthier lives.

Or just off 'em in the back. That works to.

[The Joker]

I don't get how they think that killing the person is a worse punishment than spending the rest of your life in a prison cell, dying naturally there.

[Sith Lord 13]

So you're in favor of the death penalty, or you just like it better than life in prison?

I feel it is the best of two less than stellar options. I'm therefore for it.

[Perseus]

As for getting rid of the death penalty, no i do not agree. I think it is a great idea, especially when prisons can't afford to hold their in mates. I say they should use the people on death row for medical testing, so the good can prosper with new technologies in medicine to prove for much healthier lives.

Or just off 'em in the back. That works to.

You know who do that? The Nazis.

[Daniel_]

You know who do that? The Nazis.

In a sense, but it's completely and 100% different, as the Nazis didn't do it to people who were on death row, they just did it to those of Jewish origin and a few others period. Not those just on death row. So actually no, they didn't do that.

[Perseus]

In a sense, but it's completely and 100% different, as the Nazis didn't do it to people who were on death row, they just did it to those of Jewish origin and a few others period. Not those just on death row. So actually no, they didn't do that.

My point still stands, though. It's torture to do medical experiments on murderers. And plus, not everyone on death row is guilty. I support the death penalty, but some things are horrendous, and I have certain opinions on how the death penalty should be done, but that's another story for another time.

[Daniel_]

My point still stands, though. It's torture to do medical experiments on murderers. And plus, not everyone on death row is guilty. I support the death penalty, but some things are horrendous, and I have certain opinions on how the death penalty should be done, but that's another story for another time.

Specifics would be worked out, as if there is undeniable evidence which proves the criminal guilty.

[Continuum]

Or just off 'em in the back. That works to.

Physical labor, of course, is what I prefer. I mean, at least they'd be productive with their prison times. Death penalty is much costlier than supporting a life in prison in the most modest way possible, and taking them out swiftly is out of question.

My point still stands, though. It's torture to do medical experiments on murderers. And plus, not everyone on death row is guilty. I support the death penalty, but some things are horrendous, and I have certain opinions on how the death penalty should be done, but that's another story for another time.

Like I said, the world's most horrid minds. The blackest thorns in society today.

[Daniel_]

Physical labor, of course, is what I prefer. I mean, at least they'd be productive with their prison times. Death penalty is much costlier than supporting a life in prison in the most modest way possible, and taking them out swiftly is out of question.


But it costs money to keep them in prison. Money, I'm afraid, most countries don't have. Although, one shotgun will only run you a couple bucks or less.

[Trevoooor]

What are the plans for the death row inmates, if they're not being executed?

[Amnesiac]

What are the plans for the death row inmates, if they're not being executed?

Life in prison, which is what most felons get for murder.

Not many people are executed.

[Continuum]

But it costs money to keep them in prison. Money, I'm afraid, most countries don't have. Although, one shotgun will only run you a couple bucks or less.

Look, in most countries, people have their own personal papers. When you put someone to death, it costs much to amend it. Like hell, prisons would still have a dead guy on the list.

[Sith Lord 13]

My point still stands, though. It's torture to do medical experiments on murderers. And plus, not everyone on death row is guilty. I support the death penalty, but some things are horrendous, and I have certain opinions on how the death penalty should be done, but that's another story for another time.

He suggested doing experiments on the corpses of the murderers. At least, that's what I think he meant. And I feel that mandating body donation, or offering it for certain perks, is a great idea. It the state can then turn around and sell the body, it'll recoup some of the cost of the execution.

[goat]

while some crimes are unspeakably horrid and seem to cry out for death, I suppose life could be worse. What could possibly be worse than life in a supper max. The shoe bomber spends 23hrs a day in a 5x8 cell with a solid door, a small window near the ceiling and a slot that only opens to allow food in. He's allowed 1hr of exercise a day. Same for lots of terrorists,, the unibomber and Tim Mcvaie (he blew up that federal building.) Thats worse than death.

[Mrs.KermitTheFrogx]

I am probly going to get lots of crap for this
but i agree with the death penilty
Eye For An Eye.Tooth for a tooth.
But i think soem of the death peniltys are to kind
they should stick them in a room and starve them
or torture them. The injection is to quick x