Ohio Executes 1,000th Inmate Since Death Penalty Was Restored

July 23, 2009 7:10 a.m. EST

Columbus, OH (AHN) - Ohio has executed the nation's 1,000th person since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that then-practiced methods for execution violated the 8th Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. State legislatures at the time refined their procedures for administering the death penalty, and by Gregg v. Georgia in 1976, the Supreme Court was satisfied with the changes and lifted the four-year moratorium.

Now, convicted murderer Marvallous Keene has become the 1,000th inmate to be executed. Keene was convicted of five counts of murder for a 1992 killing spree.