10-01-2015, 11:17 AM
The U.N. has been pushing for worldwide abolition of the death penalty for a very long time. Over the last 20 years, over 140 countries have abolished it or issued a death penalty moratorium.
I read recently that Cuba's Supreme Court commuted the sentence of its only death-row prisoner to life-in-prison. Cuba isn't sentencing people to death anymore and hasn't in over 10 years. Firing squad was Cuba's method of execution before the moratorium was issued.
Guyana still has 30 people on death row, but hasn't executed a prisoner in 8 years. Hanging was Guyana's method of execution before a moratorium was issued.
I can think of more reasons to end the death penalty in the U.S. than to keep it. As for the "Appeals Process", even if that were done away with (which is shouldn't be unless we care less about wrongful convictions being reversed before a prisoner is killed), the cost of pursuing the death penalty is between 3 and 10 times the cost of life without parole (depending on the state).
Anyway, these are the top 10 countries that still use the death penalty, ranked by number of executions in the last 8 years.
1. China
2. Iran
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Iraq
5. United States
6. Yemen
7. Pakistan
8. North Korea
9. Sudan
10. Somalia
Source:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicde...y-chart-15
I read recently that Cuba's Supreme Court commuted the sentence of its only death-row prisoner to life-in-prison. Cuba isn't sentencing people to death anymore and hasn't in over 10 years. Firing squad was Cuba's method of execution before the moratorium was issued.
Guyana still has 30 people on death row, but hasn't executed a prisoner in 8 years. Hanging was Guyana's method of execution before a moratorium was issued.
I can think of more reasons to end the death penalty in the U.S. than to keep it. As for the "Appeals Process", even if that were done away with (which is shouldn't be unless we care less about wrongful convictions being reversed before a prisoner is killed), the cost of pursuing the death penalty is between 3 and 10 times the cost of life without parole (depending on the state).
Anyway, these are the top 10 countries that still use the death penalty, ranked by number of executions in the last 8 years.
1. China
2. Iran
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Iraq
5. United States
6. Yemen
7. Pakistan
8. North Korea
9. Sudan
10. Somalia
Source:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicde...y-chart-15