On March 24, 2021, the State of Virginia became the 23rd state in the United States to end capital punishment. The two men who sit on Virginia’s Death Row, Anthony Joiner and Thomas Porter, will have their sentences commuted to LWOP (life without parole). For more, read “Virginia, with 2nd-most executions, outlaws death penalty,” written by Denise Lavoie and published by the Associated Press on March 24, 2021.
Among the reasons cited by…
Several different issues must be considered insofar as capital punishment in our country. The Death Penalty today is a multi-faced concern where considerations must be given to the following:
1. The Cost of Capital Punishment
For those focused upon finances and taxpayer dollars, the reality is that sentencing someone to death, rather that LWOP (life without parole), is very, very expensive. LWOP costs less, so why not opt for it? Read:
Cost of Death Penalty …
The March 2021 issue of National Geographic may have Mars on the cover, but its article on the death penalty is what drew us to the magazine this month. Entitled “Sentenced to death, but innocent: These are stories of justice gone wrong,” and written by Phillip Morris, it delves into the shocking realities of innocent people who are nevertheless arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced to death. Great photography is included by Martin Schoeller.…
This month, the question is raised once again about what the condemned actually experience when undergoing lethal injection, and whether or not this constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It appears that the executioners’ perspective on what is taking place and those of the execution witnesses may be far, far different. Read, “Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases,” written by Michael Tarm and published by the Associated Press on February 17, 2021.…
Recommended Video: a February 2016 TED Talk given by Nick McKeown, a Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. As a college student in the United Kingdom, McKeown ran the UK student chapter of Amnesty International, and since 1999, Nick has fought to end the death penalty in the United States.
Some of the data is dated, but sadly much of it rings as true today as it did five years ago.…
The Death Penalty Information Center has released the annual year-end report: it’s a recommended read.
In the 2020 Year End Report from the Death Penalty Information Center, perhaps the most shocking revelation is its tally of ten (10) executions within a five (5) month time period by the federal government. These are civilian executions, not involving the military. For more on that distinction read our earlier post, 10 Things to Know About U.S. Death Penalty …