Wait a Little Longer for 1,000

The media loves to keep body counts (remember the "grim milestone" of 2,000 deaths in Iraq?). Well another milestone is about to be reached - the 1,000th execution in the U.S. since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. That number would have been reached today, but the governor of Virginia decided to commute the sentence at the last minute.
Scrappleface has some thoughts on the body count:

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner yesterday granted clemency to convicted murderer Robin Lovitt, commuting his death sentence to life in prison and so delaying the 1,000th execution since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976.

However, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said America’s landmark 461,500th murder since 1976 should proceed on schedule.

“Our clients and future clients tell us that the domestic murder industry continues to be robust despite a decline in production in recent years,” said the unnamed ACLU source. “Americans should not worry that the stalled death penalty rate will hinder these persistent, hard-working citizens from carrying out their work with dispatch.”

Indeed, recent polls show public confidence in the efficiency of America’s killers has been bolstered by softness in the justice market.

Given the huge number of murders since 1976, 1,000 executions in the same time indicates just how poorly our judicial system really works.