10 Things Worth Knowing About The Death Penalty

1. Electric chairs blast people with anywhere between 500 and 2000 volts. In comparison, the standard US electrical outlet is 110 to 120 volts. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

2. Execution by shooting is the most common method of execution in the world. Only three US states still allow execution by firing squad: Idaho, Oklahoma, and Utah. Dummy rounds are used so that the firing squad members do not know whether they fired the lethal shot.

3. Beheading and crucifixion are still a common form of execution in Saudi Arabia, while stoning is still practiced in Iran. During stoning the individual is buried up to the chest is soil. If they are able to escape they are to be freed according to Islamic law.

4. Lethal injections usually involves 3 drugs: Sodium thiopental induces a deep sleep, Pancuronium bromide paralyzes the diaphragm and lungs, and Potassium chloride (not used in all states) stops the heart. Texas has banned the use of pancuronium bromide on animals as it has the potential to mask pain.

5. The average wait time on death row before being executed is 12 years in the US (as of 2009). Jack Alderman was the longest serving inmate of death row after being executed in 2008 after a 33 year wait. There is debate over whether a wait time of several decades is cruel and unusual punishment.

6. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 80% of all executions have taken place in the South. The Northeast accounts for less than 2% of executions.

7. 46% of US executions from 1976-2009 were in Texas or Virginia (552). Several states have abolished the death penalty including Michigan in 1846. 9 states had bills seeking to abolish the death penalty in 2009, mainly due to budget concerns.

8. Death Penalty cases cost significantly more than non-death penalty cases:

• The median cost of a death penalty case in Kansas = $1.26 million (2003 legislative audit), 70% higher than comparable non-death penalty cases.

• The cost of a death penalty case in Maryland= $3 million (2008 study) 3 times higher than non-death penalty cases.

9. Over two-thirds of the countries in the world (139) have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Several more countries rarely allow death penalties and only in the most extreme cases. However a majority of the world’s population live in countries that do practice capital punishment.

10. In 2008, 93% of all known executions took place in 5 countries – China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA. China has more executions alone than the rest of the world combined, although the exact number is unknown and believed to be significantly higher than the minimum estimates.

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