TalkLeft : The Politics of Crime

Texas Execution Halted

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed a man's execution yesterday (with four hours to spare) so that a determination could be made whether the man was mentally retarded. Jose Garcia Briseno would have been the 19th person executed in Texas this year. Texas has the highest number of executions in the country--274 since its death penalty was restored in 1982.

For more on Texas death penalty statistics, check out the Death Row Information website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which lists everything from who's on death row to final meal requests.