According to a 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Justice, 56 percent of inmates sentenced to death are white and 42 percent are black. Such numbers may lead observers to believe race no longer plays a role in capital punishment, but that is far from the case.

Should doctors be involved in the state-ordered administration of capital punishment? In the September issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, three anesthesiologists and a medical ethicist take an in-depth look at this question in a commentary and two editorials.

The Commission is proposing a draft Joint Declaration to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, to be adopted together with the Council of Europe, regarding the establishment of a European Day against the Death Penalty, on 10 October of each year.