The Nation on the Death Penalty

June brought some welcome news to death penalty opponents. Maryland commuted to life the sentence of Eugene Colvin-El, convicted solely on the basis of circumstantial evidence; Gov. George Bush of Texas granted his much-publicized reprieve to Ricky Nolen McGinn, who was informed eight- teen minutes prior to his expected execution; and the New Hampshire legislature passed a death-penalty moratorium, though this was vetoed by the state's governor. Finally, polls commissioned by politicians and activists on both sides of the issue have begun showing an erosion of the strong support for capital punishment that has until recently been steadily measured at roughly eighty percent of the American public.

But, despite such momentum, the unprecedented pace of this year's executions has not slowed, particularly in Bush's Texas: Four of July's seven scheduled executions are to be carried out in the Lone Star State this month.

Consequently, we've started publishing a monthly list of death row inmates scheduled for execution at  http://www.thenation.com/deathrow . The grim calendar  for July is currently available and is a good reminder of how often this macabre form of retribution is practiced currently in the U.S. And, please take a moment to click  on the inmate's name to send an e-mail to his/her state's Governor requesting a stay on this execution and a moratorium on all executions in the state. You can send a standardized letter, which we provide, or write your own protest missive. Again, you can find this at  http://www.thenation.com/deathrow .

From: The Nation Magazine emailnation@thenation.com  

Best regards,
Peter Rothberg  Associate Publisher  The Nation Magazine