Several states also authorize capital punishment for the non lethal offenses of drug trafficking, hijacking, treason, and sexual assault.(encarta) In 2002, 71 inmates were executed, 5 more than in 2001: of those persons executed 53 were white, 18 were black, 69 were men, and 2 were women. Nearly 2 in 3 inmates under the sentence of death had a prior felony conviction; about 1 in 12 inmates had a prior homicide conviction. The youngest inmate under the sentence of death was 18 and the oldest was 87(bureau of justice statistics). Texas and Oklahoma account for more than half of the nation's 57 executions so far this year.(sentence) The next three pages include more statistics. .
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As of 2000, 72 countries no longer authorized the penalty of death for any crimes. Another 13 countries authorized capital punishment only for exceptional crimes, such as crimes under military law and crimes committed in exceptional circumstances, such as during wartime. .
In 2000, 87 nations authorized the death penalty for some crimes. Typically, capital punishment is reserved for individuals who commit the most violent or serious crimes, such as murder and . However, some governments authorize capital punishment for nonviolent or nonfatal crimes. For example, in Libya importing alcohol and trading in foreign currency are capital crimes. In general, industrial democracies have abolished the death penalty, while non industrialized nations are much more likely to retain capital punishment. Only two advanced industrial democracies, the United States and Japan, retain the death penalty. A number of newly industrialized Asian nations, such as South Korea, also practice capital punishment. Dictatorships and other forms of totalitarian governments tend to be highly active in conducting executions. Although the trend has been that fewer countries allow executions, the worldwide trend in the number of executions conducted cannot be reliably established.