The 700 men and women executed so far have been selected by a system riddled with arbitrariness, discrimination and error. It is a lethal lottery of which the USA should be ashamed, and which other countries should condemn. Killing a selection of prisoners offers none of these things. It is an illusory solution to a pressing social problem, and merely amounts to a failure of political vision. Among the 700 were those who committed their crimes when they were still children, the mentally impaired, those denied adequate legal representation, foreign nationals denied their consular rights, and defendants whose guilt remained in doubt.
Race continues to play a role in who gets a death sentence.
In over 80 per cent of the 700 cases, the crimes involved white victims. They have diverted countless millions of dollars away from more constructive efforts to fight crime. Since the USA resumed executions in 1977, over 60 countries have abolished the death penalty.