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1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Fri Nov 25, 2005 at 12:45:28 PM EST
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Next week will see the 1,000th execution of a U.S. prisoner since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated. What a shameful statistic.

Robin Lovitt, 41, will likely be the one to earn that macabre distinction next Wednesday. He was convicted of fatally stabbing a man with scissors during a 1998 pool hall robbery in Virginia. Ahead of Lovitt on death row are Eric Nance, to be executed Monday in Arkansas, and John Hicks, to be executed Tuesday in Ohio. Both executions are likely to proceed.

That's one person executed every ten days in the last twenty-eight years.

There are more than 3,400 prisoners -- including 118 foreign nationals -- on death row in the United States and in the last 28 years, the country has on an average executed one person every 10 days, according to official statistics.

Texas is very close to showing that an innocent man, Ruben Cantu was executed (background here.) Also see Grits for Breakfast which astutely points out that if the person executed is not the real killer, the real killer is still out there, apt to kill again.

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    1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week | 15 comments (15 topical)
    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#1)
    by Peter G on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    The 1000th person to be executed, perhaps. But not the 1000th murderer. It is now virtually certain that several of those thousand human beings were actually innocent. And that many were too mentally ill, too intellectually deficient, or too young to be properly held accountable for their heinous acts. And many, many more are cases of persons wrongly condemned for those murders. By that, I mean that their trials and/or sentencing hearings violated the legal rules designed to ensure a level of fairness sufficient to ensure confidence that the right person has been convicted and (even harder) that only the worst of the worst have been selected for the ultimate penalty. In sum: Shame, shame, shame. And lest we hear immediately from some goon about "not forgetting the victims," remember that for every case of a subsequently exonerated death row convict, of whom there have been more than a hundred, a real murderer has gone free.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#2)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    on my way back from my sister-in-law's yesterday evening, i had difficulty picking up a radio station. i ended up listening to an AM station, carrying some talk show out of philly. the host, who's name escapes me, opined on this very issue. it was his position that it should be at least that many per year, if justice were to be truly served. the gist of it was: these people murdered someone, they too should be murdered, albeit by the state. the opinion has been expressed by others that lethal injection, electric chair, hanging, gas, etc. are too humane; murderers should be executed in much the same manner as they killed their victims, so that they might suffer as well. guess what? i agree. i would, however, insist on two requirements: all executions take place in the public square. further, the position of executioner should be filled by a member of the public, not a professional. the immediate family members of the victim(s) should be given the right of first refusal. i'd be curious to see how many volunteers there were for the job, and what the response of their friends and family was to it. given the bloodlust exhibited by the philly talk show host, i'd imagine there might be a stampede. somehow, i doubt it.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    cpinva: ...an AM station, carrying some talk show out of philly. Talk is cheap, especially for a small time radio talk show host who stirs controversy probably in the hope of word of mouth publicity. The guy's an idiot not worth paying attention to, IMHO.
    i'd imagine there might be a stampede. somehow, i doubt it.
    I agree..

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#4)
    by Peter G on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    Since many past comments from "cpinva" have been intelligent and insightful, whether or not I agreed with them, I have to assume that the comment posted on this subject was intended to reflect some sort of deep irony or dark humor. If so, I confess it is escaping me. Other interpretations come to mind, but I'm generally in a good mood and so prefer not to drift off into the realm of insult.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#5)
    by Al on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    From TFA:
    "Since 1999 we've had 100,000 innocent people murdered in the U.S., but nobody is planning on commemorating all those people killed," said Michael Paranzino, president of Throw Away the Key, a group that supports the death penalty.
    "Throw Away the Key" sounds more like life without parole. If it's a group that supports the death penalty, they should call themselves "Separate their cervical vertebrae" or "Paralyze their heart" or "Slice open their jugular" or "Strangle them until they suffocate". They're so tough, they can't even bring themselves to say how they want to dispose of people.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#6)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    THE CANTU CASE: DEATH AND DOUBT Did Texas execute an innocent man? Eyewitness says he felt influenced by police to ID the teen as the killer I support the death penalty, but not as it is applied here in the US. Far too often those being executed are poor minorities and the mentally handicapped. Also onetime impulse killers should not be facing the death penalty. Unfortunately, the worst of the worst psychopathic predators and serial killers who prey on other human beings as a matter of course, often never faced the death penalty in our system. There is a segment of humanity out there that are so dangerous to others, that their continued existence endangers the lives everyone in society. As a practical concern, society has a stake in seeing that they are executed in order to preclude the possibility of them killing again. But the problem with the death penalty is that it is far too arbitrary leading not only to the execution of individuals who should not be facing the death penalty, but to the deaths of those who are later proven innocent. When innocent people are executed, the death penalty itself becomes a crime, a crime committed by the state, and the state should be held responsible for that crime. For in fact there can be no greater crime perpetrated by the state against an individual then the unlawful taking of their life. No matter how you couch these types of failures, it amounts to state-sponsored murder. And if there is no consequence to the state, other than some bad PR, they have little motivation to do anything more than continue to work towards gaining convictions in capital cases. I would propose the passage of a federal law which holds the states responsible when they mistakenly and unlawfully execute someone. Whenever evidence comes to light that points to an executed individual's innocence, the state should be facing mandatory damage claims. And if they are proven to be in the wrong, made to pay a minimum 10 million-dollar fine to the families of that individual and an additional $10 million to a federal resource fund for indigent individuals accused of capital crimes. That's about the only way you can provide a motivation for the state and law enforcement investigators to uncover all the evidence in a capital murder case regardless of where that evidence leads.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#7)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    guess what? i agree. i would, however, insist on two requirements: all executions take place in the public square.
    In England they used to hang pickpockets in public. During such gatherings, which were popular, other pickpockets would go through the crowd. Here in the US they used to organize outings where people could take a train and pack a picnic lunch to watch blacks getting hung. I'm sure there would be signifcant crowds at any public execution. You greatly overestimate the average American if you think there wouldn't be a crowd. History proves otherwise

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#8)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:25 PM EST
    guess what? i agree. i would, however, insist on two requirements: all executions take place in the public square.
    In England they used to hang pickpockets in public. During such gatherings, which were popular, other pickpockets would go through the crowd. Here in the US they used to organize outings where people could take a train and pack a picnic lunch to watch blacks getting hung. I'm sure there would be signifcant crowds at any public execution. You greatly overestimate the average American if you think there wouldn't be a crowd. History proves otherwise

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#9)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:26 PM EST
    Peter G, cpinva was being sarcastic to make his point there, I think... at least that was my take on his post. I think he was saying of the radio host: "look if you want to be an idiot then go all the way and be a complete idiot".

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:26 PM EST
    Capital punishment is like capitalism: it's wonderful in theory. However, it's in the application that things get a bit messy. Besides, I have always thought that the much better (and, indeed, in many ways, the much crueler) punishment was life without parole. Imagine being a caged animal for the rest of your natural life versus a quick release from a living death. If I were on Death Row, I'd chose the needle EVERY time.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:26 PM EST
    Actually, I'm rather comforted by this number 1000, given that it means that, on average, less than 35 people per year have been executed. Given the general level of caterwauling here and at similar sites, I would have thought we had hit 1000 sometime in mid 1977.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#12)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:26 PM EST
    my point, and i did have one, was simple: give those who profess an abiding desire for the death penalty an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is. much like the war in iraq, it's easy to blindly support that which you have nothing at risk in. with the death penalty, few people are intimately involved in the act, which takes place behind closed doors, out of sight and mind of the general public. whatever your position, i think most people would agree that, if it's to have any societal effect, it should be a public event. further, the punishment should, where possible, fit the crime. anyone unable/unwilling to meet the burden set forth in my plan, has no business being a supporter of CP. myself, i agree with lavocat, the prospect of spending whatever's left of my natural life behind bars, has far less appeal than a fairly quick and relatively painless death. that would be the ultimate punishment: rotting away, knowing there's no chance i'll ever get out.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#13)
    by Slado on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:27 PM EST
    Even as a wingnut I am not a fan of executions because even if you are 99.9% acurate that means somebody's getting killed who shouldn't. Also the endless appeals sap money out of our government that can be used for something else. I mean they build entire wings of prisons for "death row" because they know they'll be there for years. Stick em in jail for 25 years minimum.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:27 PM EST
    The site 1000executions.com is focusing on the "milestone." They are trying to arrange events.

    Re: 1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week (none / 0) (#15)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    Clemency was granted.

    1,000 th U.S. Execution Next Week | 15 comments (15 topical)