From Amnesty International:

* The death penalty is a violation of human rights. More than half the countries in the world – 128 – have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

* Since 1973, more than 120 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. In 2003 alone, 10 innocent defendants were released from death row.
A new report issued by the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, DC, analyses opinion polling indicating that 58 per cent of the US population believe that it is time for a moratorium on the death penalty; 60 per cent believe that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder; 87 per cent believe that an innocent person has been executed in the USA recent years; and 69 per cent believe that reforms will not eliminate all wrongful convictions and executions.

*The Death Penalty Is Not a Deterrent
A September 2000 New York Times survey found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.
FBI data showed that 10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average.

Expressing sympathy for the family of James Brooks.
-Matt

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."