London Guy, are you asking if the death penalty is actually used in the US?
Well the death penalty is politically controversial. Some states use it regularly, and I believe Georgia will be one of them. It is mostly those states which had practiced slavery.
Now you cannot sentence someone to death without appeal. So everyone gets to appeal, and using up all available routes does take about 10 years.
The county including Houston Texas gets the most death penalty convictions, and I believe leads to the most executions.
Now if someone is sentenced to Life, then it depends on the state how soon they can be paroled. But if it is over a murder one, then they won't be getting out soon. And some states do allow life without parole.
If sentenced to death, then even if they don't get executed, they won't get paroled.
Many states do have the death penalty on the books, but due to moratoriums or just standing policies they don't execute people. Again, it is mostly reserved to those places that practiced slavery to actually execute many people.
California does have a death penalty, but since 1976 it was not used very much, and for about the last 10 years there has been an unofficial moratorium. We have the largest death row, at San Quentin, over 700 people. As things stand it is unlikely that many would ever be executed before dying of old age. But they would never be paroled.
And WetWilly, many of the states which still have death penalty really don't use it. California is one. While that could change, it is mostly the states which practiced slavery which regularly use the death penalty. Texas stands out, and I believe also Florida, and maybe Louisiana.
In many places it is only 1 homicide conviction in 1000 that gets a death sentence. And then in many places the chances of actually being executed once sentenced are extremely small.
5 comments
Well the death penalty is politically controversial. Some states use it regularly, and I believe Georgia will be one of them. It is mostly those states which had practiced slavery.
Now you cannot sentence someone to death without appeal. So everyone gets to appeal, and using up all available routes does take about 10 years.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issue…
Here it shows state by state since 1976, and Georgia does some. But Texas does more.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/574…
This map is interesting
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-a…
The county including Houston Texas gets the most death penalty convictions, and I believe leads to the most executions.
Now if someone is sentenced to Life, then it depends on the state how soon they can be paroled. But if it is over a murder one, then they won't be getting out soon. And some states do allow life without parole.
If sentenced to death, then even if they don't get executed, they won't get paroled.
Many states do have the death penalty on the books, but due to moratoriums or just standing policies they don't execute people. Again, it is mostly reserved to those places that practiced slavery to actually execute many people.
California does have a death penalty, but since 1976 it was not used very much, and for about the last 10 years there has been an unofficial moratorium. We have the largest death row, at San Quentin, over 700 people. As things stand it is unlikely that many would ever be executed before dying of old age. But they would never be paroled.
And WetWilly, many of the states which still have death penalty really don't use it. California is one. While that could change, it is mostly the states which practiced slavery which regularly use the death penalty. Texas stands out, and I believe also Florida, and maybe Louisiana.
In many places it is only 1 homicide conviction in 1000 that gets a death sentence. And then in many places the chances of actually being executed once sentenced are extremely small.
SJG