Of Murder
By: George Feigley
Cofounder
For every person who was on death-row 50 years ago, we how have
101 persons awaiting death. That even accounts for the growth
in US population. We are now killing over 100 times as many of
our own citizens as we did just 50 years ago! Why?
What has happened in the American culture which has turned us so far to the madness of the political right-wing? What has made us so cruel and unreasonable that we feel the need to slaughter our own son's and daughters? It's a mystery, a horror. Something truly ugly has occurred in the American culture. No other civilized country executes its people, only the United States. During the growth of America's insane conservative and religious movements we've killed more and more of our own people than at any other time. It's like a hamster eating her young. It's madness, an epidemic of hating ourselves and an example of what Christianity is really all about. The truth is that religion harms us and our society. It is a dangerous social evil. The United States government through the Office of Justice Programs publishes statistics about what passes for "justice" in America. Mailings from the agency are free for the asking. Much of the information is online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov. For mailings, write to:
The original idea behind publishing the numbers was to justify America's legal abuses and extremism. Rational minds can also review many of the statistics for more useful ends. They will glean startling facts about American cultural attitudes toward cruelty, torture, race, sex and killing. The statics I've used here are all government numbers. They reveal only one hopeful glimmer. In recent years as even complacent Americans have become fed-up with Bush right-wing politics and Christian extremism, there's been a slight downturn in the numbers of persons being sentenced to death. The trend must continue. For the sake of the following comparison, I've express the
numbers in terms of "per ten million population." That way you
can see how vicious each state is based on its population; worst
first. The table lists the state, the rate of death sentences
per ten million population and, in parentheses () I've listed
the actual number of persons on death-row at this
writing. Nevada 453 (82) Alabama 432 (189) Oklahoma 256 (86) Florida 246 (372) Arizona 228 (109) North Carolina 227 (174) Texas 205 (411) California 195 (646) Louisiana 190 (83) Tennessee 188 (103) Pennsylvania 182 (218) Ohio 177 (199) Georgia 137 (107) US AVERAGE 8: (3254) We shouldn't believe that all the states are as bad as those
in the preceding list. In fact, some of the best states have
no death penalty. Alaska District of Columbia Hawaii Iowa Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Rhode Island Vermont West Virginia Wisconsin Examining the death penalty statistics reveals intriguing facts. Blacks are 5.6 times more likely to be sentenced to death than whites. Hispanics are much more likely to get the death sentence than Anglos. The number of women on death-row, while still relatively small (52) is growing. Almost all of the women on death-row are black or Hispanic. Most persons sentenced to death are in their early 20s (825). The next largest number are in their late 20s (669). Two old men 65 and over are on death-row. Is that insane, or what! There are also 14 children on America's death-row! The most barbaric of the statistics is that during 2005, the most recent year where figures are published, 60 persons were executed in America. Nineteen of them were in George Bush's savage state of Texas. Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina each killed 5 of their own citizens! We implore Americans, make us as civilized as France, England and Iraq. Ban the death sentence!
"I think the death penalty You are welcome to use or re-publish
any of our material.
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