US Death Penalty

From the DPIC:
"States With and Without The Death Penalty"

STATES WITH THE DEATH PENALTY (33)
Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Indiana Kansas Kentucky	Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Oregon	Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Washington Wyoming ALSO - U.S. Gov't - U.S. Military
STATES WITHOUT THE DEATH PENALTY (17) (YEAR ABOLISHED IN PARENTHESES)
Alaska (1957) Connecticut** (2012) Hawaii (1957) Illinois (2011) Iowa (1965) Maine (1887) Massachusetts (1984) Michigan (1846)	Minnesota (1911) New Jersey (2007) New Mexico* (2009) New York (2007)# North Dakota (1973) Rhode Island (1984)*** Vermont (1964)	West Virginia (1965) Wisconsin (1853) ALSO Dist. of Columbia (1981)

^ I will never understand why any state or country would abolish the death penalty. I can understand them having tight controls on when to use it (like only during war or for terrorism, etc.) I am really glad that the US Federal Government still has the death penalty since Massachusetts doesn't. Not having it makes the state (and any other one in a similar situation) as weak and a push-over. West Germany abolished their death penalty in the late 1940s (East Germany in the 1980s) and so convicted Nazis, who helped murder millions upon millions of innocent men, women and children, were sent to jail for "life" where the majority were released within years. Does that seem like justice? I don't think so. The only goo thing about East Germany is that they actually punished their Nazis - thanks in part to their Soviet over-seers. Because the bombings in Boston is an act of terrorism the Feds can now step in and if the terrorist lives they can try him and (hopefully) give him the death penalty - something the State of MA wouldn't do. I am surprised that New York State also got rid of the death penalty considering 9-11 happened there and they abolished it afterwards. I guess that it is sometimes good to have the States and Feds at different ends since they can clean up after the others mistakes. ^

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty