999th U.S. Execution Carried Out

[The Straight Story]

999th U.S. Execution Carried Out In Ohio
1,000th Execution Expected In Virginia Wednesday

POSTED: 11:48 am EST November 29, 2005
UPDATED: 12:48 pm EST November 29, 2005

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Ohio carried out the nation's 999th execution since 1977 on Tuesday, putting to death a man who strangled his mother-in-law while high on cocaine and later killed his 5-year-old stepdaughter to cover up the crime.

John Hicks, 49, was put to death a day after Eric Nance was executed in Arkansas for killing a teenager by slashing her throat with a box cutter.

The 1,000th execution since the death penalty was reinstated is likely to come as soon as Wednesday, when Robin Lovitt is set to die in Virginia for fatally stabbing a man with scissors during a pool hall robbery.

Hicks offered a tearful apology for the 1985 murders earlier this month to Ohio Parole Board members, and said he loved both victims -- 56-year-old Maxine Armstrong and 5-year-old Brandy Green. He said his cocaine high made him desperate and paranoid.

http://www.local6.com/news/5426623/detail.html

[redqueen]

1. Related

1000th execution in united states

http://1000execution.org/

USA: 1,000th execution looms as lottery of death reaches shameful milestone

A prison guard takes a man out of a prison cell. The guard leads the man through a hallway to an execution chamber and in the presence of witnesses, the prisoner is poisoned to death.

The witnesses go home, many of them traumatized for life. The prison authorities who directly participated in extinguishing a human life are similarly traumatized. The journalists write stories about the man that has just been put to death in front of them. Officials clear the room until the next time.

In the USA, this scene is fairly routine. Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the US Supreme Court, nearly 1,000 men and women have been killed by the state in the name of justice.

As the 1,000th execution in the US approaches, Amnesty International, along with a broad spectrum of human rights organizations, social justice groups, and concerned individuals, is calling on US State and Federal authorities to put an immediate end to all executions.

(more at link)

For more information, please see: www.amnesty.org and www.1000execution.org

[The Straight Story]

2. Thanks for the link! (NT)

[redqueen]

3. My pleasure. n/t

[WindRavenX]

4. USA! USA!

:puke:

I wish to see the day when this racist system of "justice" is done away with.

[BurtWorm]

5. We couldn't have done it without Gee Dubya.

:eyes: