Don't mess with Texas, or how I learned to love the rifle sqaud

2007 was the first year that Texas had over half the executions in the US. Other states like New Jersey have gotten rid of capital punishment by law or practice, joining the most recent country to abolish it: Rwanda. At the same time, the UN just fairly overwhelmingly passed a death penalty moratorium; non-binding of course. Rome marked the occasion, with a somewhat new tradition, by lighting up the Colosseum. For the curious, here's the numbers from '06:

As in previous years, the vast majority of executions worldwide were carried out in a small handful of countries. In 2006, 91 per cent of all known executions took place in six countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the USA. Kuwait had the highest number of executions per capita of population, followed by Iran.

Based on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least 1,010 people were executed in China during the year, although these figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Credible sources suggest that between 7,500 to 8,000 people were executed in 2006. The official statistics remain a state secret, making monitoring and analysis problematic.

Iran executed 177 people, Pakistan 82 and Iraq and Sudan each at least 65. There were 53 executions in 12 states in the USA.

An Update: Thomas Cahill talks about the death penalty on Moyer's Journal