U.S. death sentences drop to 30-year low

[deadparrot]

The number of death sentences handed out in the United States dropped in 2006 to the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated 30 years ago, reflecting what some experts say is a growing fear that the criminal justice system will make a tragic and irreversible mistake.

Executions fell, too, to the fewest in a decade.

"The death penalty is on the defensive," said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington organization that looks at problems with the capital punishment system.

Death sentences fell in 2006 to 114 or fewer, according to an estimate from the group. That is down from 128 in 2005, and even lower than the 137 sentences the year after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. It is also down sharply from the high of 317 in 1996.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_re_us/death_sentences

[MannyGoldstein]

I Guess That Bush Has Given A Bad Name To All Things Texan

Even makin' em evil-doers pay the ultimate price.

[PDJane]

1. Why even have the death sentence?

It doesn't work as a deterrent, and it can too easily be misapplied..........

[cui bono]

2. and it costs taxpayers more due to the appeals process. nt

[noonwitch]

3. I would think that it would be difficult to be on a jury and make that decision

I'm glad that I live in one of the few states left that doesn't have the death penalty. As someone who votes regularly and as a government employee, my odds of getting called for jury duty and actually get seated on a jury are high. I already sat on one once when I lived in Detroit-it was not a murder case, but it was really hard to decide who was lying and who was telling the truth as far as the witnesses go-when the cops are caught lying and several of the defense witnesses were also obviously lying, well, that makes it difficult, even with good prosecutors. It would be even more difficult knowing that the defendant's life was on the line.

[dogfacedboy]

4. I'm 100% behind dropping corporal punishment nationally.

I want to see the death penalty eliminated on the Federal level with a constitutional amendment.
There are certainly criminals that need to be removed from society. What's wrong with life without parole in very spartan conditions?

[MasonJar]

5. Because Bush is no longer governor of Texas?

[rug]

6. They've just been outsourced.