An effective review of the state of debate over the death penalty

Stateline.org has this effective new piece on the state of legislative debates over the death penalty in a few states.  The piece it titled, "Death penalty: Will other states follow N.J.?", and here are excerpts:

A year after New Jersey became the first state in a generation to repeal the death penalty, capital punishment opponents in Maryland and New Mexico are pointing to recent political developments in their states as a sign they could be next....

In at least one state where a repeal of the death penalty recently has come close to reaching the governor’s desk — Nebraska — political conditions have changed considerably and could hamper similar efforts in the future....

Even before New Jersey repealed its death penalty late last year, capital punishment was on the wane in the United States. Most of the nation’s executions are carried out in a handful of states, led by Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma, and overall numbers of death sentences and executions have trended downward.  The U.S. Supreme Court’s review of lethal injection, which it took up late last year, caused a nationwide moratorium on all executions that added to the decline.

Some recent related posts:

• The decline of death even in Texas!
• Notable second-term Presidential execution realities
• Busy pre-holiday weeks for executions
• As goes Maryland, so goes the nation on capital punishment?
• More evidence that the death penalty is dying a slow death on the front lines
• Any speculations on what this Election Day could mean for the death penalty?