Six days of horror: America’s thirst for executions returns with a vengeance

Five executions, five states: a glut of judicial killing not seen in 20 years took place last week - and there was nothing random about it

The death penalty is waning in America. Most states have abolished it or put it on pause, the annual crop of executions and new death sentences is in decline, and public opinion is turning steadily against the practice.

So the battle to break America's primal adherence to a-life-for-a-life is prevailing.