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Post by PapaEZRA on May 6, 2005 11:43:09 GMT -5
The death penalty is currently implemented in 30 states. It was re-legalized by a Supreme Court decision in 1977. Since then, 552 people have been executed. About 3,335 inmates remain on ‘Death Row.’ Texas is by far the national leader in executions -- it has executed 178 people as of June 1999, 32% of the national total.
Much of the current controversy about the death penalty focuses on the circumstances where it should be applied, and on its unequal application among racial and socioeconomic classes. About 52% of death row inmates are Black or other minority, versus 17% in the general population. Over 98% of death row inmates are male.
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