Capital punishment in the United States
From Oklahoma
Template:US executions Capital punishment in the United States is officially sanctioned by 38 of the 50 states, as well as by the federal government and the military. The overwhelming majority of executions are performed by the states; the federal government maintains the right to use capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) but does so relatively infrequently. Each state practicing capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits, and crimes which qualify. The state of Texas has performed more executions than any other state.
Capital punishment is a highly charged issue with many groups and prominent individuals participating in the debate. Arguments for and against it are based on moral, practical, religious, and emotional grounds. Advocates of the death penalty argue that it deters crime, improves the community by making sure that convicted criminals do not find their way out onto the streets to offend again, and is cheaper than keeping convicted criminals in high security prison for the rest of their natural lives. Opponents of the death penalty claim that "capital punishment cheapens human life and puts government on the same low moral level as criminals who have taken life."<ref name = "AmJust1">American Justice Volume 1</ref>
Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 there have been 1047 executions in the United States (as of September 25, 2006).<ref name = "Death Penalty Info">Death Penalty Info</ref> There were 60 executions in 2005.<ref name = "Death Row USA">Death Row U.S.A., Winter 2006</ref>
67% of capital convictions are eventually overturned, mainly on procedural grounds of incompetent legal counsel, police or prosecutors who suppressed evidence and judges who gave jurors the wrong instructions.<ref name = "Columbia">Instructional Services of Columia University Law School.</ref><ref name = "Justice Denied">Landmark Study on Justice Denied.</ref> Seven percent of those whose sentences were overturned between 1973 and 1995 have been acquitted. Ten percent were retried and resentenced to death.<ref name = "Justice Denied" />
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