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Publications
Regional, National, and World News
REGIONAL NEWS
- In Arizona, seven men were executed in 1999; two more have been killed so far this year. Last year's total was the highest in any state in the West.
- In Idaho, the state legislature has passed a law making the murder of an off-duty law enforcement officer an aggravating circumstance, in response to a judge's decision last summer to spare the life of a young man who killed an off-duty state police officer.
- Terry Clark will become the first person executed in New Mexico in 40 years, when he is to be killed on July 3 at his request.
NATIONAL NEWS
- 98 people were executed in 1999, the most since 1951. More than a third of those killed were executed in Texas. The governors of five southern states each granted clemency to one person last year.
- A bill to abolish the death penalty has been passed by the state House in New Hampshire, and is to be considered by the state Senate. However, the governor plans to veto the bill if it is also approved by that body.
- Efforts to bar the execution of mentally retarded persons were successful in South Dakota and in the Illinois House, but appear to be headed for defeat in Florida, where a committee chairman said he would kill the bill by refusing to hear it.
WORLD NEWS
- The president of the Philippines has agreed to impose a moratorium on executions for the rest of year, at the request of Catholic bishops. Because deadlines for executions will not be met as a result, 18 people will receive de facto commutations.
- International outrage at executions in the United States continues, driven in part by the killing of foreign citizens whose rights under international treaties and conventions had been violated. The February execution of abused grandmother Betty Beets in Texas also contributed to the criticism.
- Turkmenistan abolished the death penalty in December 1999, becoming the first of the former Soviet Socialist Republics to do so.
Coloradans Against the Death Penalty Newsletter -- Spring 2000
See the Web site's News section for more articles and information about the death penalty.
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