US executions approach 1,000 since 1977

The United States is likely to see its 1,000th execution in the coming days since the death penalty was reintroduced after a …

The United States is likely to see its 1,000th execution in the coming days since the death penalty was reintroduced after a 1976 US Supreme Court decision that validated state laws to reform the capital punishment system.

Since then, 997 prisoners have been executed, and next week, the 998th, 999th and 1,000th are scheduled to die.

Robin Lovitt (41) is scheduled be the 1,000th prisoner executed next week. He was convicted of fatally stabbing a man with scissors during a 1998 robbery in Virginia.

Ahead of Lovitt on death row are Eric Nance, scheduled to be executed on Monday in Arkansas, and John Hicks, scheduled to be executed on Tuesday in Ohio. Both executions appear likely to proceed.

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In the last 28 years, the United States has executed on average one person every 10 days.

The focus of the debate on capital punishment was once the question of whether it served as a deterrent to crime. Today, the argument is more on whether the government can be trusted not to execute an innocent person.

Race is also is a key question in the debate. Since 1976, 58 per cent of those executed in the United States were white while 34 per cent were black, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

But non-Latino whites make up 75 per cent of the US population, while non-Latino blacks comprise just over 12 per cent, according to the US Census Bureau.

An October Gallup poll showed 64 per cent of Americans support use of the death penalty. But that is the lowest level in 27 years, down from a high of 80 per cent in 1994.

Since 1973, 122 prisoners have been freed from death row. The vast majority of those cases came during the last 15 years, since the use of DNA evidence became widespread.

Still, some powerful political forces are looking to speed up the trying and executing of prisoners. Both houses of the US Congress are considering bills that would lessen the ability of defendants in capital cases to appeal to federal courts.