U.S. Gets Shaky About the Death Penalty

The Los Angeles Times tells me judges and juries sentenced just 78 people to death so far this year, a 30 percent decline from 2010.  My home state of California increased San Quentin's death row population by just 10 people, a drop of about two-thirds from the previous year.

Nationwide, 43 people were executed this year, well down from the 52 people the government killed last year.

Some say the decline is due to the fact ever-practical Americans are souring on the high cost of revenge. I prefer to believe it is because we are reasonably fair-minded people honestly concerned about the likelihood that innocent people are sometimes executed.

Executions and Foot-long Cheese Dogs

The death penalty is senseless and achieves nothing -- except deliver the occasional dark irony that further illustrates the absurdity of executions.

John David Duty was executed in Oklahoma today but not before he fought to  block the event on grounds the state's use of pentobarbital rather than the difficult-to-obtain thiopental was risky and unsafe.

For his last meal, Duty asked the folks at the local Sonic fast food outlet for a double cheeseburger with mayonnaise, a foot-long cheese Coney dog with mustard and extra onions, cherry limeade and a banana shake. Total calories: 2,653. Total calories from fat: 1,420.