Sixty percent of executions happen in Texas

In reading the New York Time's article, U.S. Disparity in Executions Grows as Texas Bucks Trend, it's made pretty clear that there have not really been more executions this year in Texas in their criminal system, it's remained fairly constant with around 23 inmates each year being given the death penalty but what has changed is other states have reduced the numbers of those who are being given the death penalty.

It would have been helpful to have cited the numbers of how many murders happen in each state, but that was not a part of the article. According to this in 2006 1,384 murders were committed in Texas which was a drop from 2005, 26 prison inmates were put to death in 2007. In looking at some of the other states listed in the New York Times article where the death penalty was used in Oklahoma, 207 murders in 2006 and three death sentences carried out in 2007, Ohio had two death penalty sentences carried out in 2007 and 539 murders reported in 2006. According to the ACLU there are 3,300 people on death row in the United States, 190 of them here in Ohio. More detailed information as to those who were executed in 2007 can be found here with information such as the race of the inmate, the number of victims and the race of the victims.