What follows is from the latest issue of THE NATION:

After thirty-eight years without a federal execution, June has seen two of them only eight days apart: Timothy McVeigh's much-publicized execution on June 11, and, after President Bush's denial of clemency, Juan Raul Garza'son June 19. That the latter case proceeded without further postponement has drawn a fair amount of attention, since the Justice Department has yet to conclude its extensive review of racial and geographic disparities in the administration of the federal death penalty. As even the The New York Times felt compelled to note in a June 19 editorial, President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft "appear content to execute a defendant under a system whose fairness they are still reviewing."

In an attempt to highlight the U.S.'s continued reliance on what most of the rest of the world considers cruel and unusual punishment, we began compiling a death-row calendar last year in our monthly online feature Death Row Roll Call. The idea is to remind people of how often this macabre form of retribution is still practiced in our name, and to encourage folks to blast off informed letters of protest -- using the links and tools we provide -- to the appropriate governors and other officials presiding over these monthly executions. You can always access the current month's calender and related information at: http://www.thenation.com/deathrow/

And check out these recent related Nation articles for furtherinformation:

PATRICIA WILLIAMS: No Vengence, No Justice http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010702&s=williams
DAVID COLE: Death and Disparity (Web-Only) http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=cole20010615
BRUCE SHAPIRO: "Moral" Execution (Web-Only) http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=shapiro20010606
BRUCE SHAPIRO: McVeigh's Last Message http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010604&s=shapiro
BRUCE SHAPIRO: McVeigh: Done To Death http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010702&s=shapiro
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Covenant With Death http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010514&s=hitchens

Also, don't miss Robert Sherrill's explosive investigative essay from the January 8, 2001 issue of The Nation making the case against capital punishment generally. Available at: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010108&s=sherrill