Post by janet on Jan 26, 2006 8:41:58 GMT -5
The number of executions carried out by the U.S. federal government since 1988 is set to double in May, with three lethal injections scheduled in a single week.
Convicted murderers Richard Tipton, Cory Johnson and James Roane are scheduled to die in the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 9, May 10, and May 12, respectively.
"They don't have much in the way of legal resources remaining than a clemency petition to President George W. Bush," said David Elliot of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The 3 were members of an inner-city gang in Richmond, Virginia, sentenced to death in 1993 for taking part in a series of drug-related murders. All three are black.
In the U.S. criminal justice system most crimes are prosecuted by states rather than the federal government. Last year, all 60 executions carried out were administered by states.
The federal death penalty was reinstated in November 1988 with the introduction of a law designed to combat drug trafficking known as the Drug Kingpin Act. Since then, Congreee has added over 50 other crimes that qualify for death.
They include kidnapping resulting in death, murder for hire, fatal drive-by shootings, sexual abuse crimes resulting in death, fatal carjackings or aircraft hijackings and sending materials through the mail with the intent of killing.
Congress is currently discussing new additions that would expland the federal death penalty even further.
"There was a dramatic jump in the number of federal capital crimes in the 1990's as Congress expanded its jurisdiction over criminal acts that have traditionally been under the purview of the states," said Ginny Sloan of The Constitution Project based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute.
"It's also become a way for politicians to show voters they are 'tough on crime', she said.
The most notorious person put to death at Terre Haute was Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma city bombing which killed 168 people.
Since then, only two others have been executed for federal crimes and the last execution was in 2003. There are currently 41 people on federal death row, 24 of whom are black.
(source: Reuters)
Convicted murderers Richard Tipton, Cory Johnson and James Roane are scheduled to die in the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, on May 9, May 10, and May 12, respectively.
"They don't have much in the way of legal resources remaining than a clemency petition to President George W. Bush," said David Elliot of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The 3 were members of an inner-city gang in Richmond, Virginia, sentenced to death in 1993 for taking part in a series of drug-related murders. All three are black.
In the U.S. criminal justice system most crimes are prosecuted by states rather than the federal government. Last year, all 60 executions carried out were administered by states.
The federal death penalty was reinstated in November 1988 with the introduction of a law designed to combat drug trafficking known as the Drug Kingpin Act. Since then, Congreee has added over 50 other crimes that qualify for death.
They include kidnapping resulting in death, murder for hire, fatal drive-by shootings, sexual abuse crimes resulting in death, fatal carjackings or aircraft hijackings and sending materials through the mail with the intent of killing.
Congress is currently discussing new additions that would expland the federal death penalty even further.
"There was a dramatic jump in the number of federal capital crimes in the 1990's as Congress expanded its jurisdiction over criminal acts that have traditionally been under the purview of the states," said Ginny Sloan of The Constitution Project based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute.
"It's also become a way for politicians to show voters they are 'tough on crime', she said.
The most notorious person put to death at Terre Haute was Timothy McVeigh, convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma city bombing which killed 168 people.
Since then, only two others have been executed for federal crimes and the last execution was in 2003. There are currently 41 people on federal death row, 24 of whom are black.
(source: Reuters)
