It's going to involve fear, it's going to cause discomfort. He argued that this did not make the punishment cruel and unusual. The court ordered a halt of executions in Florida until September 14, and ordered a judge in Orlando to hold a hearing on the functioning of the chair. Of those sentenced to death, a total of 82 have been exonerated, a ratio of one freed for every seven executed. The majority of these convictions were overturned as a result of new testimony or physical evidence, including DNA testing.
Many states impose a deadline on evidence that can be presented after conviction.
In the most extreme case, the state of Virginia imposes a limitation of only 21 days. By contrast in the state of Illinois, which has no statute of limitations on evidence, over the last 12 years one inmate has been exonerated for every prisoner put to death. However, states and the federal government continue moves to streamline executions, including the federal Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, signed in 1996 by President Bill Clinton. This figure includes more than 1.7 million in the country's prisons and jails, including more than 3,300 on death row. This means that almost 3 percent of the nation's population, or one of every 34 adults, is under some type of correctional supervision.