North Carolina Governor Mike Easley earned his footnote in history today. From now on he will be known as "Mike Easley, the North Carolina Governor who okayed the 1,000th execution in the United States since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court."

Kenneth Lee Boyd will be executed in North Carolina at 2:00 am ET.

Maybe there should be a new license plate that reads, "North Carolina: Home of the 1,000th Execution."

The 1,000th execution in the U.S. since 1976 when the death penalty was restored will take place Friday in North Carolina. Kenneth Boyd is unlikely to receive clemency.

Only China, Iran and Vietnam held more executions in 2004 than the United States.

It would be a welcome miracle if every Governor decided they did not want their name and legacy to become a footnote in history whereby they were known more as the Governor who okayed the needle on the 1,000th prisoner in the U.S. than for their good works.

We've already had one, Gov. Mark Warner in Virginia. If we could get a second with Mike Easley, the Governor of North Carolina, and then Gov. Mark Sanford in South Carolina where another execution is planned Friday, it could become a movement. Just like in Alice's Restaurant.

by TChris

Politicians fear being perceived as “soft on crime,” but those perceptions may be misplaced. While governors in recent years have too rarely exercised their power to spare inmates from execution, angry voters generally haven’t punished governors who commute a death sentence.

In the decade since 1993, 15 governors have granted clemency in capital punishment cases, mostly on humanitarian grounds. Only one of the governors failed to win re-election. In nearly every case, the approval ratings of the governors who granted clemency remained steady or climbed.

As Gov. Schwarzenegger considers the fate of Tookie Williams, he should be comforted by the realization that his plummeting popularity isn’t likely to be further impaired by granting clemency. If Schwarzenegger’s miserly approach to clemency is based on political fear, the fear is groundless.

Say Hello to 1,000 Executions and check out the photos of regular folks who oppose the death penalty. If you make one of yourself and e-mail it, they will add it to the list. If you need a saying for your sign, try these:

Not in My Name.
Choose Life, End the Death Penalty
An Eye for An Eye Leaves the Whole World Blind
Execute Justice, Not People

Update: More than 380 towns around the world joined forces Thursday to condemn the death penalty.

Rome's Colosseum, Brussels' Atomium, Madrid's Santa Ana Square, Buenos Aires' Obelisk and the Moneda Palace in Santiago were being lit up as part of the "Cities for Life" initiative, according to the organiser, the Catholic Sant' Egidio Community in Rome.

Many of the other towns and cities that have signed up to the initiative - around half of them in Italy - were hosting vigils or rallies to mark the day. "Capital punishment supports a culture of death instead of fighting it, and puts the state on the same level as those who kill," said Sant'Egidio spokesman Mario Marazziti.

The California Supreme Court today denied Stanley Tookie Williams latest appeal. He moves one step closer to execution.

All of the recent pleadings in his case are available here.

by TChris

Robin Lovitt will not be the victim of execution 1,000. Doubts about Lovitt's guilt cannot be resolved because the government destroyed the only evidence that could establish his innocence. He was scheduled to die on Wednesday.

Acknowledging the compelling need to "reaffirm public confidence in our justice system," Gov. Mark Warner today granted clemency to Lovitt. While Lovitt will serve a life sentence without parole, he won't be executed.

Thank you, Gov. Warner.

Notre Dame professor Phil Gasper interviewed Stanley Tookie Williams by telephone a few days ago. He talks about his redemption, why gang life grabs hold of kids and how the death penalty has become a pawn of politicians.

You can write to governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (governor@governor.ca.gov), or call him in Sacramento (916-445-4821), and implore him to grant clemency. [Via Counterpunch and Justin E.H. Smith.] More from Smith:

I have emphasized repeatedly in this space that the details of a particular death-penalty case should not matter so much in our opposition to it. Whether the person executed is mentally deficient or a genius, whether the crime was premeditated or an act of fleeting passion, whether the prisoner denies the crime or admits it, the death penalty is always and equally a perversion, a malignancy, and it by itself ensures that the United States will remain outside of the civilized world, behind Turkey, Turkmenistan, Cambodia, and Liberia, but in good company with China, North Korea, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Bump and Update: I'll be arguing to save Tookie's life on Los Angeles KKLA radio station (99.5 FM)tonight at 9:00 pm PT. You can listen live online here. It's a Christian radio network -- you would think that if they really believed in choosing life, they would oppose the death penalty, but apparently the show's host, who I'll be sparring with, does not.

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A positive sign today for Stanley "Tookie" Williams -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering his clemency petition and will meet with Tookie's lawyers on December 8, five days before his scheduled execution.

Next week will see the 1,000th execution of a U.S. prisoner since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated. What a shameful statistic.

Robin Lovitt, 41, will likely be the one to earn that macabre distinction next Wednesday. He was convicted of fatally stabbing a man with scissors during a 1998 pool hall robbery in Virginia. Ahead of Lovitt on death row are Eric Nance, to be executed Monday in Arkansas, and John Hicks, to be executed Tuesday in Ohio. Both executions are likely to proceed.

That's one person executed every ten days in the last twenty-eight years.

Bump and update: Don't miss part two and three of the Houston Chronicle series on Ruben Cantu. Also, Instapundit weighs in with some criticism for the prosecutor in the case and the system in general. Law Prof Dan Markel has more thoughts.

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Original Post:

Did Texas execute an innocent man - one who was 17 at the time of his alleged crime and had no prior convictions? The Houston Chronicle today features the case of Ruben Cantu. The paper conducted its own investigation and concludes most likely he was innocent.

Newsday reports:

In the 23 years since New Jersey reinstated the death penalty, the law has cost taxpayers about $253 million and executed no one, according to a new study.

"Money For Nothing? The Financial Cost of New Jersey's Death Penalty" was released Monday by New Jersey Policy Perspective, a research group.....From a strictly financial perspective, it is hard to reach a conclusion other than this: New Jersey taxpayers over the past 23 years have paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars on a capital punishment system that has executed no one.

The study is available here. [Via Sentencing Law and Policy.]

Stanley Tookie Williams' life is hanging in the balance. The Crips founder has been on death row for 24 years. While in jail, he became an anti-gang activist, wrote children's books and was nominated by a member of the Swiss Parliament for the Nobel Prize. Snoop Dogg is rounding up support for Tookie who is scheduled to be killed on December 13.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering a clemency petition to spare his life. If granted, he would remain in prison for the rest of his life, where he could continue his good works. He just wouldn't be killed.

Here is a fact sheet on Tookie's case (pdf). There is still time for you to sign a petition to Gov. Arnold. Or, check here for a sample letter to fax.

Tell the Governor to choose life.