Human Concerns: Working for Alternatives To The Death Penalty
The members of the parish Human Concerns Committee continue to support the abolition of the death penalty in favor of life-without-the-possibility-of-parole. They join the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in this effort. Read more at:
Here are some telling numbers for your consideration:
The number of people executed in the US in 2015 just hit its lowest annual figure in quarter of a century:
28 executions. That’s down from
98 executions in 1999.
Here are ten other numbers to think about as 2016 begins:
• Innocent people freed from death row in 2015:
six, taking the total of death row exonerations since 1973 to
156.
• America’s position in the league of execution nations:
fifth. We overtook Iraq for the number of executions in 2015 but are behind Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China.
• Number of executions in every other Western nation except the US:
zero.
• People sentenced to death in the US in 2015:
49. That’s also a record low since the death penalty was brought back.
• The most death sentences in any state:
14 in California.
• The most death sentences for any county in the US:
eight in Riverside, California. That’s four times as many death sentences this year as the whole of Texas.
• The proportion of Americans on death row who are in California:
one in four.
• People California has sentenced to die since it brought back the death penalty in 1978:
1,046.
• Total out of those 1,046 that California executed:
13.
• Total cost of California’s death penalty system since 1978:
$5,000,000,000. Yes, that’s five billion dollars. But it’s a conservative estimate. And it’s one number that’s counting up.