FACTS AND FIGURES
The Death Penalty in Pennsylania
As of September 1, 1999, there were 225 people on Pennsylvania's death row. Of those, 140 are African American, 69 are white, and 14 are Hispanic; 2 are listed under other, 4 of the death row inmates are women.
Pennsylvania comes in fourth in the list of states with the most people on death row--after California (541), Texas (450), and Florida (389).
Of those four states with the most people on death row, Pennysylvania is the only one with a majority of African Americans on death row. African Americans make up less than 10% of the general population but as much as 62% if the death row population.
Since his inauguration in 1995, Governor Ridge has signed 197 death warrants (136) for people of color, 61 for white inmates). Three people have been executed since 1995. Ridge's predecessor Governor Robert Casey signed 11 death warrants; Governor David Thornburgh signed 7. No one was executed during their terms.
Judge Albert Sabo (Philadelphia) has sentenced more people to death than any other judge in the United States. The vast majority of whom are African Americans.
District Attorney Lynn Abraham (Philadephia) is the deadliest D.A. in the United States. Her Office seeks the death penalty in every case legally possible.
General Facts About the Death Penalty
Since 1976, 624 people have been executed (20 in 2000) in the United States since the use of the death penalty was resumed that year.
As of September 1, 1999, there were 3,625 people on death row.
38 of the 50 US states provide the death penalty.
A death sentence is three times more expensive than a life sentence.
67% of police chiefs in the United States think that the death penalty is not an effective law enforcement tool.
98 countries, including the totality of Western countries, have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.
The USA is one of only five countries to permit the execution of defendants who committed their crimes while they were minors, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the United States has signed. The others are Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.
African Americans make up approximately 12% of the general population in the United States, but make up 43% of the death row population.
According to a study conducted in New Jersey, the probabilitya that a black defendant will get a death sentence is about 10 times higher than for a white defendant.
The decision to seek the death penalty is made by the District Attorneys Office. 98% of the chief District Attorneys in counties using the death penalty in the United States are white, only 1% are African American.
Since 1973, over 80 people have been released from death row because of evidence of their innocence.
At least 23 innocent people have been executed since 1900.
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