An editorial in today's Washington Post is titled The Year in Death, examining national trends on the use of the death penalty. After noting the decline in the number of executions America in recent years, it gives Texas a well-deserved kick in the butt:

Texas as usual has the dubious honor of leading the nation in death -- by a country mile. The Lone Star State killed 23 people, more than three times the seven executions that second-place Ohio carried out.

It concludes:

Capital punishment in this country is not going to be abolished overnight. And it is surely premature to venture the prediction that the past five years are the beginning of its final decay. It is not, however, too soon to venture that hope.

This being the New Year, I'd like to once again thank Rev. Mr. George W. Brooks, JD, Director of Advocacy, Kolbe House, Chicago. Every morning, there are at least five and usually more news articles on the death panalty sitting in my email box when I turn on the computer. Many of them are regional articles I would not have seen but for Rev. Brooks. He does an incredible job of scouring the news for these articles, and he makes the task of bringing them to TalkLeft readers much easier.