Despite Iran, China, and the US: The UN Says No to the Death Penalty

In the US, there are 38 states that allow the death penalty--Iowa is not one of them.

STATES WITH THE DEATH PENALTY

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Illinois
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming

ALSO
- U.S. Gov't
- U.S. Military

STATES WITHOUT THE DEATH PENALTY

Alaska
Hawaii
Iowa
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
North Dakota
New Jersey
New York
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin

ALSO
- Dist. of Columbia

Meanwhile, internationally, the UN General Assembly voted against the Death Penalty

The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday called for a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolishing executions, approving a resolution opposed by the U.S., China and Iran.

The vote in the 192-member world body was 104-54 with 29 abstentions. The resolution is not legally binding but carries moral weight and reflects the majority view of world opinion.

Two previous attempts to have the General Assembly adopt a moratorium on the death penalty _ in 1994 and 1999 _ failed.

Amnesty International, which campaigned for a resolution, said that since then, the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty in law or practice has risen.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the resolution "a bold step by the international community."

"I am particularly encouraged by the support expressed for this initiative from many diverse regions of the world. This is further evidence of a trend towards ultimately abolishing the death penalty," he said.

The Vatican, a leading opponent of capital punishment, also welcomed the vote. "It shows that despite persistence of violence in the world, an awareness of of the value of life ... is growing in the human family," the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said on Vatican Radio. "This vote is interpreted as a sign of hope and a step forward on the road to peace."