Some of you may know that recently in our state, we had a legal execution.  The Supreme Court of Missouri ordered Mr. Kevin Johnson put to death by lethal injection at the state prison in Bonne Terre. He was the second Missouri man put to death in 2022 and the 17th nationally.  You can read Randy's article HERE.

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The United States is an outlier in regards to other countries when it comes to the death penalty. About 70% of the countries around the world have abolished it.  Among developed, democratic countries — and across the country, there are more than 2,000 people on death row.

There are 27 states that still have the death penalty and Missouri is one of them.  So how many people do we have on death row in our state? And how do we compare with other states?  We will get to that shortly.

For the record, among the 27 states where the death penalty remains legal, its use is limited for those convicted of the most horrific crimes, such as a multiple homicide, murder of a police officer, or murder of a child. According to Death Row U.S.A. Spring 2022, a report by the Legal Defense Fund, 20 people were on death row in Missouri as of April 1st, 2022 – the 18th most among states. After Tuesday night’s (11/29) state execution of 37-year-old Kevin Johnson, 19 people in Missouri remain on death row (still 18th most among states).

So how do we compare to the other states? Here is how they breakdown:

RankStateDeath Row Inmates, April 1st, 2022Executions From 1976 – April 1st, 2022Total prisoners per 100,000 people, 2020
1California 69013247
2Florida 32399371
3Texas 199573455
4Alabama 16669398
5North Carolina 13843271
6Ohio 13456385
7Pennsylvania 1283308
8Arizona 11637495
9Nevada 6512361
10Louisiana 6228581
11Tennessee 4713328
12Oklahoma 42116559
13Georgia 4176433
14Mississippi 3722584
15South Carolina 3743304
16Arkansas 2931529
17Kentucky 273414
18Oregon 212300
19Missouri 2091374
20Nebraska124269
21Kansas 90298
22Idaho 83398
23Indiana 820351
24Utah 77166
25Montana 23362
26South Dakota 15362
27New Hampshire 10172

Are you for the death penalty? Or do you prefer life in prison with no possibility of parole? Feel free to share your thoughts.

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