RALEIGH, NC -- Just after 2:00 am Friday morning, a North Carolina man became the 1000th to be executed since the practice was legalized in 1976, of which only a few were exonerated after the fact.
    "The 1000th execution is a victory for victim's rights," said Michael Paranzino, President of the pro-death penalty group Throw Away the Key. "And with new technology we're getting better and better at knowing who's guilty and who isn't every day."
    An Amnesty International spokesman admitted that most death penalty cases are not ultimately overturned. "Since 1976, about one in eight prisoners on death row in the U.S. has been exonerated," said William F. Schulz, the group's executive director. "While we're sure that most of them were guilty, we believe this occasion is the perfect time to reconsider the whole issue of execution."