2001-JUN-11: Execution of Timothy McVeigh: At 8:14 local time, he was executed in Terre Haute, IN, for the terrorist bombing which killed 168 people at the Afred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, OK on 1995-APR-19. Some thoughts on the execution:

	President George W. Bush announced: "This morning, the United States of America carried out the severest sentence for the gravest of crimes. The victims of the Oklahoma City bombing have been given not vengeance but justice. And one young man met the fate he chose for himself six years ago...Today, every living person who was hurt by the evil done in Oklahoma City can rest in the knowledge that there has been a reckoning."
	Amnesty International said that the U.S. government has allowed vengeance to triumph over justice and distanced itself yet further from the aspirations of the international community. "President George W. Bush's record on the death penalty is well-known across the world...By refusing to step in and impose a moratorium on federal executions, he has further damaged his and his country's reputation." During his five years as Governor of Texas, he permitted 152 state executions. Many were in violation of international standards. At least one involved a foreigner who was not allowed to contact their embassy after being arrested. Some executions were of criminals who were children at the time of their offense. Others were of severely mentally handicapped adults.
	Some voices of individuals: "Timothy McVeigh was a cold-blooded murderer. He will not be missed. But the way he died was sad, pathetic and wrong." "A rite of national purification." "Before Tim McVeigh was executed, there were 168 deaths associated with the bombing. Now, there are 169 deaths, and the creation of one martyr. Further, his siblings and parents must morn the state murder of a member of their family. Snuffing out one life is too great a price to pay so that some victims and families of victims may feel a sense of vengeance or closure. If we want to prevent future terrorist acts, we won't have Timothy around to analyze." "Judgment day." "He didn't suffer at all. The man just went to sleep, or as I said, the monster did. I think they should have done the same thing to him as he did in Oklahoma." "McVeigh is a coward and a low-down bastard. Somebody tried to take my life, they deserve to burn in hell." "We feel at peace now." "I won't have closure. My pain won't go away." "All life is precious. It's a sad day." "An eye for an eye. That's what we are here for." "Rot in Hell, McVeigh."

2001-JUN-14: OK: Human Rights Watch (HRW) urges state to stop executions: Oklahoma leads the U.S. in executions during 2001. The state has executed 13 people so far this year. Over the past 20 years, seven or more men on death row have been exonerated and released. According to HRW, "Recent reports that an Oklahoma City police forensic scientist may have offered misleading and improper testimony in a number of capital cases underscore the need to reconsider the death penalty." HRW has written Oklahoma governor Frank Keating (R), urging a moratorium on executions.

2001-JUL-6: CT: Execution of mentally retarded banned: Governor John Rowland of Connecticut signed a bill into law which prohibits the execution of offenders with mental retardation. It also authorizes a study of possible disparities in prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty based on a defendant's or victim's race or economic status.

2001-AUG-4: NC: Execution of mentally retarded banned: Governor Mike Easley signed a bill into law that forbids the execution of mentally retarded individuals. He said: "The prosecutors and legislators feel this is a fair bill. I have sincere reservations because I support the death penalty and I believe that a defendant who knows right from wrong, and is capable of assisting his counsel in his defense in court, should be subject to the same punishment as anyone else." However, support from the state's district attorney's association and Attorney General Roy Cooper were "compelling factors" in his decision to sign the bill. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, this brings to 18 the number of states that have some type of ban on executions of the mentally retarded. Jonathan Broun, a spokesperson for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation said: "North Carolina is joining what is a national viewpoint that it is wrong to execute the mentally retarded, that we should not be killing people with the minds of children". Opponents of the legislation argued that supporters were trying to use it to gut the death penalty in North Carolina.

2001-OCT-22: TX: Execution of teenage offender: Gerald Mitchell, 33, was executed in Huntsville, TX. He had been found guilty of committing murder while he was 17 years of age. Rick Halperin, a history professor at Southern Methodist University and president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said: "The world does not recognize, in general, a 17-year-old as an adult." But Texas, 22 other states in the U.S. and about a half-dozen other countries do. ₄