There have been 41 exe­cu­tions in 2006 as of September 5. This is a pace com­pa­ra­ble to last year’s, when there were 60 exe­cu­tions. Eighty per­cent of the exe­cu­tions have been in the South, keep­ing with a pat­tern since the death penal­ty was rein­stat­ed in 1976. Almost half of all exe­cu­tions (20 of 41) have been in one state, Texas. Only about 20% of those exe­cut­ed had killed a black vic­tim, even though about half of all mur­der vic­tims in the U.S. are black. This under­rep­re­sen­ta­tion of black-vic­tim cas­es has also been a con­sis­tent pat­tern since the death penal­ty returned. No clemen­cies have been grant­ed in 2006. Many exe­cu­tions have been put on hold due to chal­lenges to the lethal injection process.

(DPIC, post­ed Sept. 5, 2006). See Executions, Arbitrariness, and Lethal Injections.

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