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The nation's 1,000th execution since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 is scheduled to occur Friday morning, barring a last-minute stay. The expected execution of Kenneth Boyd in North Carolina for murdering his wife and her father comes at a time of growing misgivings over the death penalty, as reflected in jury verdicts, opinion polls and the actions of courts and state legislatures.
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The number of inmates executed last year was the lowest since 1996, and the Supreme Court has twice in the past three years limited who can be punished with death.
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Public opinion polls show that nearly two-thirds of Americans support the death penalty, but that is a significant drop from the peak, in 1994, when 80 percent of respondents told Gallup pollsters they were in favor of capital punishment. When asked if they would endorse executions if the alternative sentence of life without parole were available, support fell to 50 percent.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101035.htmlPerhaps one day we will count ourselves as among the majority of nations who do not impose the death penalty?