Death Penalty Issue Fought at County Level Across US - Advocacy Group

Advocacy group People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Executive Director Stephen Dear claims that use of the death penalty is concentrated in a group of key counties across different US states.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Use of the death penalty is concentrated in a group of key counties across different US states, advocacy group People of Faith Against the Death Penalty Executive Director Stephen Dear told Sputnik.

“The death penalty is really a county issue,” Dear said on Tuesday. “You can look at a map of counties all across the United States, where those sentenced to death are only sentenced in certain counties.”

On Monday, the US Supreme Court ruled against limiting the use of the controversial drug midazolam during executions, saying it does not violate the Eighth amendment of the Constitution that prohibits cruel or unusual punishments.

Dear noted that the death penalty has become localized in places where individual county judges implement it as a form of punishment.

The advocate said the Supreme Court decision on lethal injection drugs will result in more executions where some of the subjects are likely to experience great pain during the process.

He predicted that at least five more US states will abolish the death penalty by the end of this decade.

People of Faith Against the Death Penalty is a US advocacy group focusing on mobilizing faith-based communities to support abolishing the death penalty throughout the United States, according to the group’s website.