Capital punishment in Singapore
In 2012, a couple of American elected officials and office-seekers have suggested that Singapore's success in combating drug abuse should be examined as a model for the United States. Michael Bloomberg, a former Mayor of New York City, said that the United States could learn a thing or two from nations like Singapore when it came to drug trafficking, noting that "executing a handful of people saves thousands and thousands of lives." The last execution in New York took place in 1963. Several courts have ruled that the death penalty violates the New York Constitution (see "People v. LaValle"). In 2007, the state of New York abolished the death penalty. 20 states, plus Washington D.C., have abolished the death penalty, with the most recent being Washington state in 2018. However, certain states, such as Texas, still have similar or even higher rates of execution than Singapore.
Michael Bruce Ross
After the execution, Dr. Stuart Grassian, a psychiatrist who had argued that Ross was not competent to waive appeal, received a letter from Ross dated May 10, 2005, which read "Check, and mate. You never had a chance!" Ross's execution was the first in Connecticut (and in all of New England) since 1960. It was also the first and only execution in Connecticut administered by lethal injection. As of July 25, 2013, Ross is the most recent inmate executed in Connecticut, although the state's death row housed 10 convicted murderers who were in various stages of legal appeals prior to the abolition of the death penalty in Connecticut on April 25, 2012. Vivian Dobson, whom Ross was alleged to have raped, became a vocal opponent of the death penalty in an effort to save Ross's life. The execution of Michael Bruce Ross was the first in Connecticut in 2005, the first execution in Connecticut since 1960, the 22nd execution in the United States in 2005, and the 966th execution in the United States since 1976.
Ross was also suspect in other rapes and murders in the state of Indiana.