NBC News Staff Writer Sophia Rosenbaum reports on MSNBC:
A death row inmate is executed every three weeks in Texas, a rate that far exceeds that of any other state. Texas is the leader in executions in the U.S. by about 400, with Virginia a distant second. Since the Supreme Court ruled on death penalty laws in 1977, Texas has accounted for 40 percent of the more than 1,300 executions nationwide.
Despite a cultural shift away from the death penalty in many parts of the country, 32 states still allow it.
The article cites a 2012 poll by the Texas Tribune and the University of Texas that only 21 percent said they are opposed to the death penalty.
Gov. Rick Perry is among the majority.
“I think our process works just fine,” Perry said in 2012 during his unsuccessful presidential bid. “You may not agree with them, but we believe in our form of justice.”