NEW YORK — The United States was the only Western democracy that executed prisoners last year, even as an increasing number of U.S. states are moving to abolish the death penalty, Amnesty International announced Monday. America’s 43 executions in 2011 ranked it fifth in the world in capital punishment, the rights group said in its annual review of worldwide death penalty trends. U.S. executions were down from 46 a year earlier…. “If you look at the company we’re in globally, it’s not the company we want to be in: China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq,” Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, told The Associated Press.
In a nation where some cheer Texas Gov. Rick Perry for signing 234 death warrants, you’d think that we’d be among the world leaders as we are in so many other areas. Sadly, we don’t even qualify for a spot on the medal stand; America comes in a disappointing fifth. When you consider our competition (China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq), it’s difficult not to be embarrassed for the Red, White, and Blue, isn’t it?
Part of the problem is that only 34 states have the death penalty. Illinois banned executions altogether, Oregon has a moratorium in place, and Maryland and Connecticut are close to banning executions. Collectively, this represents a wholly unacceptable state of affairs. If America can be the world’s leading economic and military power, shouldn’t we be competitive when it comes to something as basic to maintaining law and order as capital punishment?
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks U.S. trends, told the AP that last year 78 prisoners received death sentences, down from an average of more than 300 annually a few years ago. “Executions peaked in 1999 at 98,” he added. “By all measures, the death penalty is on the defensive.”
Dieter attributed much of the decline to the introduction of DNA testing, which has exposed some mistaken convictions. With stronger defense tactics and appeals processes getting longer, U.S. states also found it more and more expensive to pursue death penalty cases, he said.
Come on, America; if we can bomb Afghanistan and Iraq back into the Stone Age, why can’t we set the example when it comes to biblical justice? How is it we can let the likes of China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq leave us behind?
We’re better than this…right??
