The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty

Rumors have been circulating recently that the Trump Administration is considering including drug dealing among those crimes that can be subject to capital punishment. That's just a nice way of saying "the death penalty." In an effort to signal to his supporters that he's "tough on crime" and serious about the opioid crisis, President Trump has indicated his positive view of the death penalty for drug offenses in countries like Singapore and the Philipines. But what is the current status of the death penalty in the United States today? How has the Supreme Court ruled on the death penalty in the past? And isn't this a legislative issue, anyway? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week's episode of Words and Numbers.

Quick hits

Altruistic business https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/new-jersey-businessman-drops-fees-for-shivering-neighbors/ 

Falling space junk http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5486985/Lower-Michigan-crash-site-falling-Chinese-space-station.html  https://www.npr.org/2011/09/21/140641362/where-falling-satellite-lands-is-anyones-guess 

Foolishness of the week

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/scientology-appears-poised-launch-tv-network-1093640 

Topic of the week: Capital punishment

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/countries-that-still-have-the-death-penalty/  https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/us/death-penalty-fast-facts/index.html  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/world/asia/philippines-drug-war.html  http://news.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-penalty.aspx  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/29/support-for-death-penalty-lowest-in-more-than-four-decades/  https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-international-perspective 

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