" ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we re-affirm the value of human life - Through ethical policies and the compassion of Americans, we will continue to build a culture that respects life ... " ----- President George W. Bush (compassionate conservative), National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2003 ... A Proclamation, January 14, 2003.
George W. Bush is well known for his stance on the death penalty. As well as refusing to intervene to stop two federal executions in 2001, George W. Bush's five-year governorship of Texas saw him fail to oppose 152 executions,about twice as many as any other state had conducted, in two decades of judicial killing. This made him the most killing governor in the history of the United States of America.
UPDATE ON PRESENT STATUS OF USA (Land Of The Free):
The USA is the only western nation which has not abolished capital punishment. The country which has executed the most child offenders is the USA. Since 1976, the USA has executed 830 prisoners (297 in Texas).
In 1968 there were 517 death row prisoners in America. By the end of 2002 there were 3,697 prisoners on death row awaiting execution. Death row numbers have increased about 4.9 times as fast as the U.S. population. Since 1973,107 prisoners have been exonerated from death row in the U.S. due to a justice system "riddled" in errors.
The USA (Land Of The Free) incarcerates the most people per head of population and has the largest jail population than any other country in the world. Over two million of the world's eight million prisoners are in the USA (1 in every 142 people). America has a half-million more prisoners than China with only one-quarter of its population (China stops short of executing child offenders).
Each year the USA incarcerates more than 10 million people. Since 1980, the U.S. prison population has more than tripled - and each year the numbers increase.
The adult U.S. correctional population reached a record high at the end of 2001 with 3.1 percent of the nation's adult population incarcerated or under community supervision. Almost 6.6 million men and women made up the correctional population at the end of 2001, an increase of 147,000 from the end of 2000. One in every 32 adult U.S. residents were on probation or parole or were held in a prison or jail.
If recent incarceration rates in the U.S. remain unchanged an estimated 1 of every 20 people (5.1%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.
Approximately 3,000 prisoners die in the U.S. each year from alleged illness'. Ten years ago, only 150 prisoners died from alleged illness'.
The rate of incarceration in the U.S. is currently 704 per 100,000 people. In Australia, the rate of incarceration is 143 per 100,000 people. Almost two thirds of countries have rates of 150 or below, per 100,000 people.The USA has some of the toughest prison sentences in the world which include life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. There are more than 22,000 murders each year in the USA. Texas, the country's leading execution state, actually experienced an increase in the homicide rate in 2001.The U.S. continues to have the highest rates of childhood homicide, suicide and firearm-related deaths among 25 industrialized countries.
The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children less than 15 years of age is 12 times higher than among children in the other 25 countries combined. The firearm-related homicide rate in the U.S. was nearly 16 times higher than in all of the other 25 countries combined. The firearm-related suicide rate was nearly 11 times higher.
There are 35 firearm-related deaths per 1 million people in the USA. In Australia, the number of firearm-related deaths is 0.7 per 1 million people.
(source - Amnesty International, U.S. Dept. Justice, U.S. Bureau Justice Stats, Death Penalty Center, U.S. Dept.of Health & Human Services, Australian Institute ofCriminology, AusStats)
CONCLUSION:
All the above being the case, the USA (Land Of The Free)should be the safest country in the world to live in - a role model for human rights freedom and democracy ... yet, it continues to be a country which has the most violence!
AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
By ACADP Posted 21 Feb 03
THE CHICKEN: Industry V's Community now who can do a better job of raising citizens? Industry locks them up throws away the key and kills them in cold blood. Why? Because the USA is a corporation and not a country.
The community if given the same power can nurture them back from their mistakes and return them as nurturers. A human being is not dogmatic and is priceless and unique. Worth saving? Not disposable!
Related:
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).
Supreme Court Justice Blocks Execution
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens blocked Indiana from putting to death its oldest death row inmate Tuesday to give the 71-year-old prisoner, who is partially deaf and blind, extra time to file federal appeals.
Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law
GEORGE RYAN, outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois a republican who leaves office today, has put US capital punishment on the road to oblivion by commuting the sentences of all 167 of the state's death row inmates. Three were re-sentenced to 40 years' jail and the remaining 164 got life without parole.
Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.
