USA; TEXAS ANCORA STATO GUIDA

33 ESECUZIONI NEL 2002, QUASI DOPPIO ANNO SCORSO

NEW YORK, 29 DIC - Il Texas, lo Stato di cui era governatore il presidente George W. Bush, ha messo quest'anno amorte 33 persone, un record per il 2002 negli Stati uniti e quasi il doppio delle 17 esecuzioni dello scorso anno.

I 33 detenuti finiti sul lettino dell'iniezione letale portano a 289 il totale delle vittime della pena di morte da quando vent'anni fa il Texas ha riaperto il suo braccio della

morte.

   I dati sono stati resi noti dal Death Penalty Information Project, un istituto di ricerca di Washington che si batte per l'abolizione della pena capitale.

   ''Quel che ne emerge e' che la pena di morte e' un fenomeno sempre piu' circoscritto al Texas e ad alcuni altri Stati del Sud'', ha detto Richard Dieter, il direttore del centro.

   Nel 2002, 13 dei 38 Stati che hanno adottato la pena di morte hanno effettuato esecuzioni, il numero piu' basso dal 1993. Due Stati, il Maryland e l'Illinois, hanno adottato moratorie.

   In totale sono stati 71, cinque piu' che nel 2001, i detenuti messi a morte negli Usa nel 2002: piu' alto rispetto all'anno precedente, il numero complessivo sarebbe pero' calato - ha fatto notare Dieter - se il Texas non si fosse mosso a passi da gigante.

 30/12/02

Pena di morte - Il record � del Texas: nel 2002 33 giustiziati

NEW YORK - Il Texas, lo Stato di cui era governatore il presidente George W. Bush, ha messo quest'anno a morte 33 persone, un record per il 2002 negli Stati uniti e quasi il doppio delle 17 esecuzioni dello scorso anno.

I 33 detenuti finiti sul lettino dell'iniezione letale portano a 289 il totale delle vittime della pena di morte da quando vent'anni fa il Texas ha riaperto il suo braccio della morte.

I dati sono stati resi noti dal Death Penalty Information Project, un istituto di ricerca di Washington che si batte per l'abolizione della pena capitale.

�Quel che ne emerge � che la pena di morte � un fenomeno sempre pi� circoscritto al Texas e ad alcuni altri Stati del Sud�, ha detto Richard Dieter, il direttore del centro.

Nel 2002, 13 dei 38 Stati che hanno adottato la pena di morte hanno effettuato esecuzioni, il numero pi� basso dal 1993. Due Stati, il Maryland e l'Illinois, hanno adottato moratorie.

In totale sono stati 71, cinque pi� che nel 2001, i detenuti messi a morte negli Usa nel 2002: pi� alto rispetto all'anno precedente, il numero complessivo sarebbe per� calato - ha fatto notare Dieter - se il Texas non si fosse mosso a passi da gigante. Anche le giurie infliggono la pena di morte pi� raramente dopo che, grazie all�esame del Dna, alcuni detenuti nel braccio della morte sono stati riconosciuti innocenti e sono tornati in libert�. 

DECEMBER 28, 2002:

TEXAS: Study: Texas leads in executions

Texas executed 33 people this year, the most of any U.S. state and almost double the number put to death in Texas last year, a study showed.

 Since resuming executions 20 years ago, 298 Texas inmates have been executed, far more than in any other state. The 17 executions in Texas in 2001 represented a sharp drop for the state, which executed a record 40 people in 2000 and has executed an average of 22 inmates annually since 1992.

 "What we are finding is that the use of the death penalty is becoming more and more concentrated in Texas and a few other states in the South," said Richard Dieter, who heads the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death-penalty group that published the study.

 "And increasingly, Texas is finding itself standing alone in its increasing application of the death penalty," Dieter said.

 Oklahoma, Missouri executions declined.

 Executions in 2002 declined sharply in Oklahoma, from 18 last year to 7 this year. Missouri saw a slight decline, from 7 in 2001 to 6 this year, as did North Carolina, which dropped from 5 to 2.

 In all, 13 of the 38 states with capital punishment sent inmates to the death chamber in 2002, the lowest number since 1993, according to the study. 2 death penalty states had moratoriums on executions -- Maryland since May and Illinois since 2000 -- and the federal government executed no one.

 Although the total number of executions in the United States increased from 66 last year to 71 this year, the number would have declined had Texas not sharply increased its share, Dieter said.

But Dudley Sharp, a spokesman for the Texas crime-victim advocacy group Justice For All, said executions slowed because the U.S. Supreme Court took up 2 landmark death-penalty cases, not because of waning public support.

 The high court considered whether states could execute mentally retarded inmates and whether a judge or a jury should decide on the aggravating circumstances that might elevate murder to capital murder.

 "Those 2 cases, in effect, placed a moratorium on executions for any case that might have fallen into one of those categories," Sharp said in Saturday's editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "There is nothing to suggest that anything less than the overwhelming majority of American citizens support the death penalty." 

Las Vegas Sun

TEXAS: Study: Texas Executed Most Inmates in 2002

Texas executed 33 people this year, the most of any state in the nation and almost double the number put to death in the state last year, a study showed.

 Since resuming executions 20 years ago, 289 Texas inmates have been executed, far more than in any other state. The 17 executions in Texas in 2001 represented a sharp drop for the state, which executed a record 40 people in 2000 and has executed an average of 22 inmates annually since 1992.

 "What we are finding is that the use of the death penalty is becoming more and more concentrated in Texas and a few other states in the South," said Richard Dieter, who heads the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death-penalty group that published the study.

 "And increasingly, Texas is finding itself standing alone in its increasing application of the death penalty," Dieter said.

 Executions in 2002 declined sharply in Oklahoma, from 18 last year to 7 this year. Missouri saw a slight decline, from 7 in 2001 to 6 this year, as did North Carolina, which dropped from 5 to 2.

 In all, 13 of the 38 states with capital punishment sent inmates to the death chamber in 2002, the lowest number since 1993, according to the study. 2 death penalty states had moratoriums on executions - Maryland since May and Illinois since 2000 - and the federal government executed no one.

 Although the total number of executions in the United States increased from 66 last year to 71 this year, the number would have declined had Texas not sharply increased its share, Dieter said.

 But Dudley Sharp, a spokesman for the Texas crime-victim advocacy group Justice For All, said executions slowed because the U.S. Supreme Court took up 2 landmark death-penalty cases, not because of waning public support.

 The high court considered whether states could execute mentally retarded inmates and whether a judge or a jury should decide on the aggravating circumstances that might elevate murder to capital murder.

 "Those 2 cases, in effect, placed a moratorium on executions for any case that might have fallen into one of those categories," Sharp said in Saturday's editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "There is nothing to suggest that anything less than the overwhelming majority of American citizens support the death penalty."

 Dieter's study, released this month, comes on the heels of a U.S. Justice Department report showing that the number of death row prisoners dropped last year for the 1st time since capital punishment was reinstated.