Sometimes, the facts speak for themselves. Often, enlightenment occurs from merely examining and pondering the facts pertaining to a problem or issue. In this diary, I'm going to set forth facts pertaining to the death penalty, free of commentary.
- 34 States have the death penalty as a potential penalty
- Since the US Supreme Court's 1976 decision in Gregg v. Georgia, 1,270 human beings have been executed in the United States.
Race**
- Of those executed in the U.S. since 1976,
- 35% were Black;
- 56% were White;
- 7% were Latino (actually an ethnicity designation);
- 2% were "Other."
- The race of victims in the execution cases mentioned above:
- 15% were Black;
- 77% were White;
- 6% were Latino;
- 3% were Other.
- As of January 1, 2011, there were 3,251 people on Death Row in the U.S.
- As of January 1, 2011, of those persons on Death Row in America:
- 43.68% were White;
- 41.77% were Black;
- 12.12% were Latino;
- 1.11% were Native American;
- 1.29% were Asian;
- 0.03% were of unknown race.
- Of Chief District Attorneys in death penalty states (as of 1998):
- 98% are white;
- 1% are black
**Source (unless otherwise mentioned): January 1, 2011 report of the NAACP
- In North Carolina, over a 27-year period ending in 2007, the odds of a death sentence for those suspected of killing white persons were 3 times higher than for those suspected of killing black persons
- In California, those who killed whites were over 3 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed blacks, and over 4 times more likely than those who killed Latinos.
Regional/State
- Of the 1,270 persons executed in the U.S. since 1976:
- 1,043 were in the South;
- 584 of these were from 2 states--Texas and Virginia;
- 149 were in the Midwest;
- 74 were in the West;
- 4 were in the Northeast
These facts, and more, are documented in the listed sources and at the Death Penalty Information Center, the most comprehensive internet database on the death penalty. I encourage everyone interested in the issue to visit this site for more information.