Death Penalty Sentencing And The # Of Executions Have Declined With The Crime Rate

Botched Execution Of Joseph Wood

http://www.businessinsider.com/death-row-inmate-gasped-for-air-660-times-like-a-fish-on-shore-2014-7

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Charts: Death penalty sentences and executions, by state. "In short, both sentences and actual executions have declined along with the crime rate....But the other lesson from Arizona and and the high-profile botched execution in Oklahoma earlier this year is that the death penalty sentencing and the actual carrying out of that sentence varies widely on a state-by-state basis." Philip Bump in The Washington Post.

Is the death penalty 'cruel and unusual'? "There are two reasons for arguing that the death penalty is a 'cruel and unusual punishment', and thus unconstitutional. One was on grim display in Arizona on July 23rd, when Joseph Wood, a double-murderer, took nearly two gasping, choking hours to die by lethal injection. The other came under legal attack on July 16th, when a federal judge, Cormac Carney, struck down capital punishment in California for being too slow and capricious." The Economist.

There's a lot we don't know about how these executions are carried out. "Whatever we know...the known unknowns are greater. Because the states will not share them, we don't know the dosages of the drugs administered. We don't know the drugs' manufacturers or their quality-control procedures. We mostly don't know the credentials of those administering the drugs. More importantly, the defendants don't know any of this, either. Without this information, those sentenced to execution cannot challenge the execution procedures in court nor check for possible medical complications." Matt Ford in The Atlantic.

Other legal reads:

Thousands of prisoners treated for mental illnesses. Kevin Johnson in USA Today.

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"America's Mentally Ill Prisoners Outnumber The Hospitalized: 10 to 1"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/04/americas-mentally-ill-prisoners.html

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Pax on both houses: Florida Executes Mentally Ill Man ...

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