December 18, 1998. Copyright, 1998, Graphic News. All rights reserved

U.S. EXECUTES 500TH DEATH ROW INMATE
By Margot Nesdale

LONDON, December 18, Graphic News: CONVICTED killer Andrew Lavern Smith is likely to gain the dubious distinction of being the 500th prisoner to be executed in the U.S.
The death-row inmate is scheduled to receive a lethal injection in South Carolina later tonight. (Friday)
Unless he receives a last minute reprieve his death will mark the 500th execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Meanwhile passionate debate continues over the injustices of capital punishment and corruption in the criminal justice system.
For every seven prisoners executed since 1976, one inmate has been freed from Death Row after subsequently being found innocent, a conference at Northwestern University Law School in Chicago revealed recently.
Most of the 75 freed were accused of heinous crimes for which prosecutors, who are elected officials, were under pressure to find a scapegoat.
Studies have consistently shown that blacks are more likely than whites to land death sentences for similar crimes; blacks who harm whites fare worst of all.
Most states put massive resources into prosecuting capital cases, but little into guaranteeing an adequate defence.
The American public has come out strongly in favour of capital punishment Ð the Death Penalty Information Centre has found that 77 percent of Americans favour it.
Unlike many industrialised countries, the trend is toward more and more executions, with about 3,500 people currently waiting on death row.
Texas heads the list. Of the 499 executions since 1976, 164 have been carried out in Texas, 59 in Virginia, 43 in Florida, 32 in Missouri and 24 in Louisiana.
/ENDS

Sources: Reuters, The Economist, Florida Corrections Commission